The economy may be on life support due to COVID-19, but housing sales across the nation soared in June, according to a report released Wednesday from the National Association of Realtors. It found that housing sales jumped about 20% nationwide compared to sales in May – the largest single-month recovery since the organization began collecting data.
The bump was caused by the reopening of the economy and mortgage rates that dipped below 3%.
"We've never seen mortgage rates this low," said Gay Cororaton, the association's director of housing and commercial research. "That's really making a home affordable."
Low mortgage rates mean a family could pay about $1,000 a month for a median-priced house – $295,300 – with 20% down, Cororaton said. This helped drive a small uptick in first-time homebuyers in June.
Cororaton also noted a reduction in investment buyers.
"They're concerned about renters' ability to meet the rent payment," she said. "Investment buyers and second-home buyers made up just 9% of the market this June compared to 15% last month."
Cororaton warns that the market may slow down in July as cases of COVID-19 surge and some states reenter partial lockdowns. The market is still down 11% compared to housing sales in June 2019.
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