WASHINGTON – Existing-home sales continued on a strong, upward path in July, marking two consecutive months of significant sales gains, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Each of the four major regions attained double-digit, month-over-month increases, while the Northeast was the only region to show a year-over-year decline.

Total existing-home sales completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, jumped 24.7 percent from June to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million in July.

The previous record monthly increase in sales was 20.7 percent in June of this year. Sales as a whole rose year-over-year, up 8.7 percent from a year ago (5.39 million in July 2019).

“The housing market is well past the recovery phase and is now booming with higher home sales compared to the pre-pandemic days,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “With the sizable shift in remote work, current homeowners are looking for larger homes and this will lead to a secondary level of demand even into 2021.”

The median existing-home price for all housing types in July was $304,100, up 8.5 percent from July 2019 ($280,400), as prices rose in every region. July’s national price increase marks 101 straight months of year-over-year gains. For the first time ever, national median home prices topped the $300,000 level.