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# Home prices set a record as sales fall for a second month
- URL: https://www.consumernews.ai/home-prices-set-a-record-as-sales-fall-for-a-second-month/
- Published: 2026-07-10T12:40:14.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-10T12:40:14.000Z
- Description: It's the end of affordability for first-time home buyers
- Author: The Editors
- Tags: Money

The U.S. housing market ended its spring selling season on a sour note. Existing home sales fell 2.4 percent in June from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units, well below the 0.7 percent gain economists had expected, [The Wall Street Journal reported](https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/spring-home-selling-season-ends-on-a-bad-note-a81071a0?ref=consumernews.ai). 

Yet the median price of an existing home sold in June climbed to $440,660, up 1.8 percent from $432,700 a year ago and the highest on record. Prices have now risen for 36 straight months, [CBS News reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-home-prices-all-time-high/?ref=consumernews.ai).

Affordability has effectively collapsed for first-time buyers. Fewer than four in 10 non-homeowner households can afford a typical starter home priced around $200,000, according to LendingTree data cited by [CBS](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-home-prices-all-time-high/?ref=consumernews.ai). Households now need an annual income of roughly $117,000 to afford the average home, according to Redfin. 

Sales below $250,000 continue to shrink, while sales of homes above $1 million rose 18 percent from a year ago, [CNBC reported](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/09/june-home-sales-prices.html?ref=consumernews.ai) — a widening gap between who can and cannot participate in the market.

### Mortgage rates continue their climb

Mortgage rates are not helping. The 30-year fixed climbed to 6.56 percent Thursday, up from 6.51 percent a week ago, according to [Wall Street Journal Buyside data](https://www.wsj.com/buyside/personal-finance/mortgage/mortgage-rates-today-7-9-2026?ref=consumernews.ai). The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage moved down to 5.71 percent from 6.28 percent, and the 30-year jumbo edged up to 6.63 percent. 

Fannie Mae, which entered the year forecasting rates could fall below 6 percent, now says the 30-year will hold above that level for the rest of 2026\. [Reuters reported](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-weekly-jobless-claims-fall-amid-stable-labor-market-conditions-2026-07-09/?ref=consumernews.ai) that the average 30-year rate remains about 50 basis points above its pre-Iran-war level, keeping potential buyers on the sidelines and homeowners with sub-5 percent mortgages locked into their existing houses.