Dive Brief:

• After rising to their highest level in more than nine years in May, pending home sales slipped slightly in June, the National Association of Realtors reported on Wednesday.

• The 1.8% dip in the number of homes under contract was the first decline in five months. Still, the level of pending sales remains close to May’s high and is 8.2% higher than in June 2014.

• Homes under contract are an indication of home sales over the next few months. 

Dive Insight:

Rising home prices could account for at least some of the June slide in pending sales, Yun said, noting that low inventory is pushing costs up.

“The demand is there for more sales,” he said, “but the determining factor will be whether or not some of these buyers decide to hold off even longer until supply improves and price growth slows.”

June’s modest decline is unlikely to affect what NAR Chief Economic Lawrence Yun called “a solid pace of home sales this summer.”