Home sales fell overall in June as inventory tightened and prices continued to soar; the market seemed to hit the affordability wall, causing many buyers to take pause.
As a result, sellers are having to be more realistic about the list prices of their homes. Southern California real estate agent David Fogg explains, "The anything-goes list-price strategy is no longer working. Buyers want to buy, but we're seeing fewer of them, and they are much more careful. Many properties are now not selling and/or coming down in price." CNBC reports that such "seller sanity" may help even out the market and help boost the overall homeownership rate. U.S. homeownership has still not yet recovered in part due to delayed homeownership by Millennials, who have been hit hard financially by the Great Recession.
Prices continue to rise, but the gains are slowing. Mortgage applications to purchase both new and existing homes have been falling steadily, and mortgage rates are rising again. Single-family home construction also fell and was lower than June 2017. In one of the nation's hottest metropolitan markets, Denver, Colorado, home sales fell 5.5 percent annually in June, even as prices hit an all-time high, according to a report by RE/MAX. Realtors there blame it squarely on a lack of homes for sale.
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