Home sales figures increased in June on both a monthly and annual basis, and new property listings also rose, according to Zillow.
Last month, 381,125 homes were sold, up 5.9 percent year over year, said Zillow’s June Market Report published on July 7, calling it a trend reversal following the yearly decline recorded in May. On a monthly basis, sales jumped 9.2 percent from May.
There were 403,811 homes newly listed for sale in June, up 3 percent from last year, which is another reversal from May’s trend and a “sign that there may yet be some life left in this year’s home shopping season,” according to the real estate marketplace company.
Amid rising home sales and new listings, affordability continued to improve despite rising home values, a trend Zillow attributed to falling mortgage rates.
The average weekly rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.43 percent for the week ending July 1, down marginally from 6.48 percent for the week ending June 3, according to Freddie Mac data.
Since late May, rates have been hovering around 6.5 percent but have not moved significantly to either side. The current rates are at a seven-week low. Rates are also down from a year back, when they were at 6.67 percent.
According to Zillow, the monthly mortgage payment for a typical U.S. home was $1,884 in June, based on a 20 percent down payment and excluding insurance and taxes. This is 2.5 percent lower than last year.
“The market wrestled with some uncertainty throughout the spring shopping season, but mortgage rates declining from their mid-spring peak has added some extra heat as we head into an already toasty summer,” Mischa Fisher, chief economist at Zillow, said in a statement.
“While the lowest price tiers are exhibiting some softness in terms of price, they also had the most listing-activity growth, the first time since 2022 that’s been the case.”
Meanwhile, Americans have expressed support for government policies to make housing more affordable, according to a June 26 statement from real estate brokerage Redfin. The numbers come from a survey commissioned by the company that polled 4,000 Americans in May.
Three-quarters of the respondents said there should be initiatives to build homes for low-income families, while 74 percent suggested introducing programs for assisting with down payments.
According to Redfin, the results are in line with the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, passed by Congress last month, which seeks to boost housing supply, expand access to affordable homeownership, and streamline building processes.
“For over a decade, the prevailing view was that housing was a local issue best left to city councils and mayors—but housing affordability has become a national crisis,” Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist, said in a statement.
“The great accomplishment of the bill itself is that it uses solutions like zoning reform and streamlines building permitting to prove that government policies can make people better off without spending big.”
Redfin in its statement highlighted the bill’s push to expand access to manufactured housing by streamlining federal regulations. Manufactured housing is a lower-cost alternative to traditional houses.
On June 12, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it had published a proposed rule to update the definition of manufactured homes. The expanded definition is expected to support multi-story construction of manufactured homes.
The department said the update would spark innovation and boost supply in the sector.
“America needs more housing, and manufactured housing is part of the solution,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement.
“We are removing unnecessary barriers, encouraging innovation, and helping American manufacturers deliver more affordable housing options for American families.”
