By The numbers: Existing-home sales rose 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million in June, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Compared with June 2020, home sales were up nearly 22.9%, though the year-over-year comparisons are skewed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
The rebound was not as large as expected. Economists polled by MarketWatch had projected existing-home sales to come in at 5.93 million.
The median sales price of an existing home rose 23.4% year-over-year to a record $363,300.
Big picture: Economists think that housing will remain on solid footing but not quite as hot as it has been over in the past year. A big question is whether mortgage rates can stay below 3%.
Market reaction: Stocks were mixed on Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.18%
down slightly and the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.04%
higher after a rise in weekly jobless claims.
