US existing-home sales slip in June

Sales of previously owned US homes unexpectedly slipped in June but prices continued to rocket higher, a real-estate report released on Monday showed. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said home sales fell 1.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.08 million in June, from a downwardly revised 5.15 million in May. The average analyst estimate was for a rise to a 5.28 million pace in June. Still, June sales were up 15.2 percent from a year ago as the housing recovery continued to build solid traction six years after the collapse of a price bubble. Home prices clocked up the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year double-digit gains. The national median price was $214,200 in June, up 13.5 percent from June 2012 and the 16th straight month of year-over-year price gains, NAR said. The last time there was such a long-running streak was from February 2005 to May 2006, at the peak of the price bubble. Total housing inventory rose 1.9 percent but remained tight. At the end of June there were 2.19 million previously owned homes on the market, a 5.2-month supply at the current sales pace. The pace was 5.0 months in May. "Inventory conditions will continue to broadly favor sellers and contribute to above-normal price growth," Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in a statement.