In the United States, home sales in August slowed down to the lowest level in over a year as potential buyers waited for mortgage loan rates to decrease before making a purchase.
The latest data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Thursday, September 10, revealed that existing home sales in the country last month decreased by 2% compared to the previous month. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate was 3.98 million units, the lowest since June 2025, with the Northeast and Midwest regions being most affected.
Since the fall of 2024, there have been only two months with existing home sales dropping below 4 million units, and last month was one of them.
Compared to the same period last year, existing home sales in August decreased by 1.2%.
Existing home sales are calculated based on completed transactions, so the sales data for August likely reflects the number of contracts signed in June and July when mortgage loan rates were already higher than in the spring. Mortgage loan rates started to rise significantly by mid-July.
The latest data from NAR also showed that despite the cooling of price increases from the pandemic period, concerns about affordability remain a major hurdle for buyers.
The median existing home price in August increased by 1.6% compared to the same period last year, reaching $429,100. This continues the trend of year-on-year price increases since mid-2023.
Lawrence Yun, the Chief Economist of NAR, stated: “Mortgage rates move inversely to home sales volume, so the slight decline in home buying activity due to high mortgage rates is not surprising.”
By the end of August, the inventory of existing homes increased by 3.2% compared to the previous month, reaching 1.62 million units, a 5.9% increase from the same period last year. At the current sales pace, the current inventory level represents a 4.9-month supply, the highest level in over a decade.
Homes are staying on the market longer, with the average time in August being 31 days compared to 29 days in July.
First-time buyers accounted for 30% of sales, slightly higher than July and August 2025. Economists and real estate agents note that a robust housing market typically requires first-time buyers to make up 40% of purchasers.
Additionally, data shows that all-cash sales accounted for 27% of total transactions in August, slightly higher than in July but slightly lower compared to August last year.