US existing home sales fall to three-month low in July as prices and rates squeeze buyers

The American housing market just reminded everyone that affordability math is still brutal. Existing-home sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million units in July, a 1.7% decline from June and the lowest reading in three months, according to the National Association of Realtors. The culprits are familiar: mortgage rates hovering well above 6% and a median home price that keeps climbing like it has somewhere important to be. At $434,100, the median existing-home price rose 2.0% from $425,700 a year ago, marking the 37th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases. The numbers behind the squeeze The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate sat at 6.54% in July. That’s a tick higher than June, though still below the 6.72% level recorded a year earlier. First-time buyers felt the pinch acutely. They accounted for just 29% of July sales, down from 33% in June. That four-percentage-point drop in a single month is notable because first-time buyers have historically represented closer to 40% of the market in healthier conditions. Cash transactions made up 26% of all sales. When more than a quarter of homes are purchased without a mortgage, it signals that well-ca...