July existing home sales -1.3% to 5.44......>

US DATA: July existing home sales -1.3% to 5.44 mln saar, below expectations for

5.55m and the slowest pace since Aug 2016. June sales now 5.51m SAAR. Sales were

-0.8% for single-family homes and -4.8% for condos. Sales gains were seen in

South (+2.2%) and West (+5.0%), but those were more than offset by declines in

Northeast (-14.5%) and Midwest (-5.3%). The supply of homes -1.0% m/m and -9.0%

y/y to 1.92m, so the months supply was unch at 4.2 months when combined with the

sales decline, well below 4.8 months a year ago. Median sales price $258,300,

+6.2% y/y vs +2.4% wage growth, so still showing misalignment. NAR's Yun said

the market is still very fast, with the median days on market at 30 days vs 36

days a year ago. All-cash sales were 19% of total, with investors at 13% of

market and first-time buyers 33% of total. Yun repeated that supply shortage

remains the key issue, as buyer traffic remains high. See MNI main wire.