US Existing Home Sales Fall as Expected

2026-09-10 14:08 By Andre Joaquim 1 min. read

Existing home sales in the United States fell by 2.0% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.98 million units in August of 2026, aligned with market expectations.

It follows a 1.7% decline in the previous months.

Existing home sales declined in the Northeast (-4.0%), Midwest (-3.1%), and South (-1.6%) regions while sales were relatively unchanged in the West.

Total housing inventory increased 3.2% to 1.62 million units and the median price was $429,100 for all housing types, a 1.6% increase from last year.

“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.

Mortgage rates measured by leading mortgage providing institutions continued to rise through the period as soaring energy costs and ample corporate debt supply lifted longer-maturity yields.



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US Existing Home Sales Fall as Expected
Existing home sales in the United States fell by 2.0% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.98 million units in August of 2026, aligned with market expectations. It follows a 1.7% decline in the previous months. Existing home sales declined in the Northeast (-4.0%), Midwest (-3.1%), and South (-1.6%) regions while sales were relatively unchanged in the West. Total housing inventory increased 3.2% to 1.62 million units and the median price was $429,100 for all housing types, a 1.6% increase from last year. “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. Mortgage rates measured by leading mortgage providing institutions continued to rise through the period as soaring energy costs and ample corporate debt supply lifted longer-maturity yields.
2026-09-10
US Existing Home Sales Fall for 2nd Month
Existing home sales in the United States fell by 1.7% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.05 million units in July of 2026, relatively close to market expectations of 4.06 million. It follows a 1.4% decline in the previous month. Existing home sales declined in the South (-3.1%) and Midwest (-2%) regions while sales were relatively unchanged in the West, offsetting the 2% increase in the Northeast. Total housing inventory decreased 1.9% to 1.54 million units and the median price was $434,100 for all housing types, a 2% increase from last year. “Home sales have been remarkably stable, even amid the rising mortgage rate environment of the past few months,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Year-to-date sales are up 2.4% and there’s no doubt that the housing market would be thriving if average mortgage rates were to return near 6%”.
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US Existing Home Sales Unexpectedly Fall
Existing home sales in the United States fell by 2.4% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 4.09 million units in June of 2026, firmly below expectations that they would hold steady at 4.20 million. Sales fell in the South (-3.6% to 1.89 million), the Midwest (-3.0% to 0.98 million), and the West (-1.3% to 0.74 million), offsetting an increase in the Northeast (2.1% to 0.48 million). With the last sales results, inventory fell by 0.6% to 1.56 million units, equivalent to 4.6 months of supply. Meanwhile, the average price of existing home sales rose by 1.8% from the previous year to $440,600, the most in over one year.
2026-07-09