The latest figures reflect a housing market where prices continue to rise despite elevated mortgage rates and limited inventory. While affordability has improved compared with a year ago in several measures, many prospective buyers still face significant financial barriers to purchasing a home.
The National Association of Realtors reported that the median price of all existing homes sold in June reached $440,600, up 1.8% from $432,700 a year earlier. The increase marked the 36th consecutive month of year-over-year price growth, according to the organization. Existing-home sales, meanwhile, declined 2.4% from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million, although they remained 2.8% higher than in June 2025.
Home Prices Continue Rising While Sales Fluctuate
The June data highlight a market that remains highly sensitive to borrowing costs. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales rose in the Northeast on a monthly basis but declined across the Midwest, South, and West. Compared with a year earlier, sales increased in the Midwest, South, and West, while remaining unchanged in the Northeast.
“The back-and-forth in monthly home sales activity, driven by mild fluctuations in mortgage rates, shows how sensitive home buyers are to affordability conditions,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said.
Single-family homes recorded a median price of $446,400, representing a 1.8% annual increase, while condominiums and co-ops posted a median price of $380,000, up 1.6% from a year earlier. Regional price differences remained substantial, with the West reporting the highest median single-family home price at $633,600, followed by the Northeast at $564,800. Median prices stood at $377,700 in the South and $346,600 in the Midwest.
Inventory remained relatively stable. According to the National Association of Realtors, total housing inventory slipped 0.6% from May to 1.56 million units, equivalent to a 4.6-month supply of unsold homes, unchanged from the same period last year.
Affordability Remains a Central Challenge despite Some Improvement
The continued rise in home prices comes as affordability remains a concern for many households. According to CBS News, economist Ershang Liang of PNC Economics Research said housing affordability remains low because home prices continue to outpace slowing wage growth.
CBS News also reported that fewer than four in ten households that do not already own a home can afford a typical starter home priced at around $200,000, citing LendingTree. Redfin estimated that households need an annual income of roughly $117,000 to afford the average home.
NAR’s Housing Affordability Index reached 102.3 in June, improving from 95.5 a year earlier, with affordability increasing across every region of the country. Yun said affordability is better than a year ago because wage growth has exceeded home price growth. He also warned that slower inventory growth could limit longer-term progress, adding that additional housing supply is needed to expand opportunities for homeownership.
The latest market data were released as federal housing legislation remains unresolved. According to CBS News, Congress approved the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which includes measures intended to lower housing costs by reducing regulatory barriers to construction, limiting institutional purchases of single-family homes, and encouraging zoning reforms. The bill had not yet been signed into law at the time of reporting.
