Market Mover Thursday: Existing Home Sales Rise, Prices Fall 15.4% y/y…

And the beat(ing) homeowners are taking goes on….the markets are up 175 on the DOW, IMO missing the point these are short sales and foreclosures, the banks are holding shadow inventory and unemployment is still climbing…as long as homeowners continue to see their home values drop and jobless rates rise we will not spend….

WSJ:

Existing-home sales rose again in June from the previous month, but prices are still down sharply compared with last year. Home resales rose more than expected, by 3.6%, to a 4.89 million annual rate from a revised 4.72 million in May, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.The NAR originally reported May sales up 2.4% to 4.77 million. Wall Street expected a sales rate of 4.85 million sales rate for previously owned homes.

Foreclosures and short sales reflect 31% of sales in June. Distressed property sales have pushed prices lower, year over year. The median price for an existing home last month was $181,800, a 15.4% decrease from June 2008.

The average 30-year mortgage rate rose to 5.42% in June from 4.86% in May, Freddie Mac data show. Tighter credit and rising unemployment are also reducing sales.

Previously owned home sales, year-over-year, were down 0.2% from the pace in June 2008, Thursday report said.

Weak demand has kept inventories of unsold homes high. Inventories of previously owned homes fell 0.7% at the end of June to 3.82 million available for sale. That represented a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace, compared to 9.8 in May. Excess supply is depressing prices….