Sales of existing homes in the Triangle fell by 37 percent in June, the 12th straight month that volume has fallen.

Local homes sales totaled 2,531 in the month, according to the Triangle Multiple Listing Service. That's down from 4,001 in June 2007, the last month during which home sales posted year-over-year gains.

Since that time, the economy has slowed, helping curb demand for homes. In addition, many low-income borrowers who got mortgages they couldn't afford have defaulted on their homes. That's led banks to tighten their lending practices, making it harder to buy a home.

A rising inventory of Triangle houses reflects that situation, as MLS says there is a roughly 10-month supply of existing homes on the market. In part, that reflects the end of spring, which is a traditionally strong time for sales. But inventory is still twice as high as it was during June 2007.

There were 28,662 homes on the local market in June, MLS says, while 2,380 were under contract. That leaves the percentage of homes under contract at 8.3, down from 9.4 in May and 15 percent a year earlier. And the average length a home has been on the market was 150 days in June, up from 145 in May and 103 in June 2007.

Still, the Triangle's housing market remains stronger than most, helped by a job market that's remained strong and stoked demand from people moving into the area. And the Raleigh area never saw the kind of speculative building that's led to crashing housing prices in other areas, such as Florida, Nevada and California.

The average selling price of a Triangle home in June was $255,382, up about 5 percent from $242,437 a year earlier. The figures don't track the same houses over time and could reflect a shift in sales toward higher-end houses, but they tend to rise and fall along with prices.