Existing home sales fell for the third consecutive month as record-high home prices and elevated mortgage rates weighed on buyers. Mortgage rates resumed an upward trend after the July ceasefire ended. Geopolitical uncertainty, bond market sell-off and inflation concerns pushed rates to 6.71% last week, the highest level since July 2025. As buyers wait for rate relief, homes are sitting on the market longer and for-sale inventory reached the highest level in over a decade. Home price growth has slowed but overall remains positive, keeping affordability out of reach for many buyers.
Total existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, fell 2.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million in August, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This marked the lowest level since July 2025 and only the second time since October 2024 that sales dropped below 4.0 million. On a year-over-year basis, sales were 1.2% lower than a year ago.
The existing home inventory level was 1.62 million units in August, up 3.2% from July and 5.9% from a year ago. At the current sales rate, August unsold inventory sits at a 4.9-months’ supply, up from 4.6-months last month and a year ago. This was the highest months’ supply since November 2015. Inventory between 4.5 to 6 months’ supply is generally considered a balanced market.
Homes stayed on the market for a median of 31 days in August, up from 29 days in the previous month but unchanged from August 2025.
The first-time buyer share was 30% in August. The share was up from 29% in July and 28% a year ago.
The August all-cash sales share was 27% of transactions, up from 26% last month but down from 28% in August 2025. All-cash buyers are less affected by changes in interest rates.
The August median sales price of all existing homes was $429,100, up 1.6% from last year. This marks the 38th consecutive month of year-over-year increases. The median condominium/co-op price in August was up 1.5% from a year ago at $371,600. Recent gains for home inventory will put downward pressure on resale home prices in most markets in 2026.
Existing home sales in August mostly decreased across the four major regions. Sales fell in the Northeast (-4.0%), Midwest (-3.1%), and South (-1.6%), while sales in the West were unchanged. On a year-over-year basis, sales decreased in the West (-2.7%), Midwest (-2.1%), and Northeast (-2.0%), while sales in the South remained unchanged.
The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) is a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts. The PHSI fell from 72.9 to 71.2 in July, the lowest reading since January 2026. On a year-over-year basis, pending sales were 2.2% lower than a year ago according to the National Association of Realtors’ data.
