'We are surely in a housing recession': Home sales plunged in July amid cooling real estate market

Home sales in July dipped sharply relative to both June and to one year ago, further indicating both a major cooling-off of the real estate market as well as potential economic turmoil in the near future. 

The National Association of Realtors reported this week that "July 2022 existing-home sales were down 5.9% from June and 20.2% from one year ago, with all four major U.S. regions recording month-over-month and year-over-year declines."

"The ongoing sales decline reflects the impact of the mortgage rate peak of 6% in early June," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a news release announcing the numbers.

"Home sales may soon stabilize since mortgage rates have fallen to near 5%, thereby giving an additional boost of purchasing power to home buyers," he added.

Elsewhere Yun painted a slightly grimmer though not apocalyptic picture of the housing market. 

“In terms of economic impact we are surely in a housing recession because builders are not building,” he told CNBC. “However, are homeowners in a recession? Absolutely not. Homeowners are still very comfortable financially.”