August US Existing Home Sales Fall as Expected, Month Supply at 10-Year High

10:00 AM EDT, 09/10/2026 (MT Newswires) -- The pace of US existing home sales fell by 2% to a 3.98 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in August from 4.06 million in July, as expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:05 am ET, data from the National Association of Realtors released Thursday showed. Total sales were down 1.2% from a year earlier. Sales of single-family homes were down 1.9%, while condominium sales fell by 2.7%. Sales were down in three of the four regions of the country but held steady in the West region. It also decreased in three regions from a year earlier, but held steady in the South region Homes remained on the market a median of 31 days, up from 29 days in July but unchanged from a year ago. The supply of homes for sale rose to 1.62 million homes in August from 1.57 million in July, up 5.9% from the 1.53 million level a year ago. "Mortgage rates and home sales move in opposite directions, so it's not surprising to see a mild dip in home buying activity due to high mortgage rates," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Still, home prices are rising, and existing home sales are actually up 1.6% year-to-date through the first eight months of the year. Homebuying demand, despite higher interest rates, is no doubt being supported by rising wages, which grew 3.1% in August, along with 643,000 net new jobs added since the start of the year." The month supply on market rose to a 10-year high of 4.9 months from 4.6 months in July and a 4.6-months supply a year ago. The median home price decreased to $429,100 from $436,400 but was up 1.6% from $422,400 level one year ago and was the highest reading for an August report on record. The monthly existing home sales report from the National Association of Realtors measures sales of single-family and multi-family homes for resale at the time of closing, including the number of existing homes available and the median sales price. A strong reading is a positive sign for mortgage lenders and related consumer product companies.