Duplex Sales Slip As Prices And Delinquencies Rise

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing home sales slipped one percent in June from May’s three-year high.

While a dip of  1.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.08 million from what had been a pace of 5.27 million does not seem like much, the suspected reason behind it may have longer term implications.

NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun believes rising mortgage interest rates may be the cause of the slowdown.

However, thanks to pent-up demand, and a low supply of inventory, home and duplex prices continue to rise at an above-normal pace. In fact, the national median home price was up 13.5 percent from June 2012, to $214,200.

Fewer foreclosures and short-sales, which typically sell at a discounted price, were part of the price increase is well. In fact, they were responsible for just 15 percent of all existing home sales, down three percent from May.

This trend may not hold, as the data company Lender Processing Services (LPS), reported this morning that the national mortgage delinquency rate rose 9.9 percent from May to June. At 6.7 percent of all mortgages, it is the highest level since February. However, compared to June of 2012, it nonetheless represents a year-over-year decrease of 6.5 percent.