U.S. home-sale prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in July, growing 3.3 percent year-over-year to a median of $318,100, according to a report from Redfin.
However, Redfin said home sales in July fell for the second month in a row, by 3.4 percent year-over-year, and the number of homes for sale fell 3.4 percent annually at the end of July.
“July home prices and sales were weaker than I had expected, especially given that falling mortgage rates have been luring homebuyers back to the market since early spring,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “Even though we’ve seen increased interest from homebuyers—especially compared to a year ago when mortgage rates were climbing—uncertainties in the overall economy and talk of a looming recession have people feeling jittery about making a huge purchase and investment.”
“But I think the odds are that we won’t see a recession within the next year,” Fairweather added. “If rates stay low and the economy continues to grow, we’ll see more homebuyers come back in a serious way in 2020, and the market will be much more competitive.”
According to the report, seven large metro areas in July had year-over-year declines in their median sale price, including Bridgeport, Conn. (-6.2 percent); San Jose, Calif. (-3.3 percent); New York (-3.1 percent); Oakland, Calif. (-2.6 percent), Seattle (-1.7 percent); New Haven, Conn. (-0.9 percent); and San Diego (-0.2 percent).
Redfin said the largest declines in home sales in July were in Miami (-22.9 percent); Detroit (-18.9 percent); and New York (-13.9 percent).