Sales of existing US homes dropped 2.0 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million, the National Association of Realtors reported on Thursday, September 10. It was the slowest pace since June 2025 and 1.2 percent below a year earlier. Analysts at Briefing.com had expected 4.03 million.
The bigger worry for most buyers sits in their monthly payment. Freddie Mac put the 30-year fixed rate at 6.76 percent that same day, the highest since June 2025. Mortgage News Daily quotes went past 7 percent.
“Mortgage rates and home sales move in opposite directions,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said, “so it’s not surprising to see a mild dip in home buying activity due to high mortgage rates.”
No sign of forced selling
Here is what the headline hides. Distressed sales, meaning foreclosures and the like, held at just 2 percent of transactions. Prices did not give way either. The median existing-home price reached $429,100, up 1.6 percent from a year ago and the 38th straight month of annual gains, although growth cooled from July. Only the West saw a slight year-over-year dip.
Supply is finally building. Unsold inventory rose 3.2 percent from July to 1.62 million homes, the first reading above 1.6 million since November 2019. At the August pace that is 4.9 months of supply, the most in more than a decade. Yun said the extra stock gives buyers a better chance to negotiate.
Many owners are not listing at all. Millions hold mortgages taken out when rates sat near 3 percent, and selling means swapping that for a loan at nearly 7 percent.
Who is buying
First-time buyers made up 30 percent of August sales, up from 29 percent in July and 28 percent a year earlier, though still short of the roughly 40 percent seen in a healthy market. Cash buyers accounted for 27 percent. The typical home spent 31 days on the market.
The regions did not move together. Sales fell 4.0 percent in the Northeast, 3.1 percent in the Midwest and 1.6 percent in the South, while the West held steady. Single-family homes sold at an annual pace of 3.62 million and condos and co-ops at 360,000.
Yun pointed to some support under demand. Existing-home sales are up 1.6 percent for the first eight months of 2026, wages grew 3.1 percent in August, and the economy has added 643,000 net new jobs since the start of the year.
Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, was less comforting. “Americans are hitting the pause button on homebuying,” she said. “There’s no relief in sight as borrowing costs continue to climb higher.”
Sources
- US home sales hit 9-month low as rising mortgages, Iran conflict weigh on buyers
- US Existing Home Sales Hit 14-Month Low as Mortgage Rates Climb
- US existing home sales hit weakest pace in over a year
