In signs an economic recovery may be picking up speed, U.S. home sales rose at a record rate for a second straight month in July, and purchasing managers in both the manufacturing and services sectors report business activity has accelerated at a brisker-than-expected pace this month. With mortgage rates holding near record lows and a work-from-home trend apparently enticing many Americans to move further from city centers, the National Association of Realtors said on Friday sales of existing homes rose 24.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million units last month from 4.7 million in June.
Home prices also shot to a record $304,100, and a shortage of inventory is making competition for houses fierce. The average time on the market fell to 22 days in July, a record low, from 24 in June, and nearly 70% sold in less than a month. Combined with June’s 20.2% gain, home sales have mushroomed by nearly 50% in two months to fully retrace the cratering in residential real estate activity in the spring after the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading across the country. July’s sales rate was the fastest since December 2006, when the country was in the latter stages of the sub-prime mortgage housing boom.
“The housing market is well past the recovery phase and is now booming with higher home sales compared to the pre-pandemic days,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “With the sizable shift in remote work, current homeowners are looking for larger homes and this will lead to a secondary level of demand even into 2021.”
Source: Reuters
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