US home prices hit an all-time high as sales slow and mortgage rates rise

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed in June, but a key measure of home prices climbed to an all-time high, adding to prospective homebuyers’ affordability challenges.

Existing home sales fell 2.4% last month from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Sales rose 2.8% compared with June last year.

The latest sales tally fell short of the roughly 4.21 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Home sales have been mostly hovering close to a 4-million annual pace going back to 2023, far short of the historic norm that is closer to 5.2-million.

Sales have remained sluggish this year as mortgage rates have mostly trended higher in the months since the spring as the war between the U.S. and Iran began raising expectations of higher inflation. Still, mortgage rates remain below where they were a year ago.

Home prices continued to rise nationally last month. The U.S. median sales price increased 1.8% in June from a year earlier to $440,600, an all-time high, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 36 months in a row.