U.S. Existing Home Sales Drop Below 4.0 Mln For First Time Since June 2025

(RTTNews) - A report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday showed an extended slump by existing home sales in the U.S. in the month of August.

NAR said existing home sales dove by 2.0 percent to an annual rate of 3.98 million in August after tumbling by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 4.06 million in July. Economists had expected existing home sales to plunge by 2.2 percent to an annual rate of 3.97 million.

Existing home sales fell sharply for the third straight month, with the annual rate dropping below 4.0 million for the first time since June 2025.

"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.

He added, "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."

The extended slump in existing home sales partly reflected weakness in the Northeast and Midwest, where existing home sales plummeted by 4.0 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.

Existing home sales in the South also tumbled by 1.6 percent, while existing home sales in the West came in unchanged.

The report also said housing inventory at the end of August totaled 1.62 million units, up 3.2 percent from 1.57 million units in July and up 5.9 percent from 1.53 million units a year ago.

With the sharp increase, housing inventory exceeded 1.6 million units for the first time since November 2019.

The unsold inventory represents 4.9 months of supply at the current sales pace, up from 4.6 months in both July and August 2025.

"The number of months it would take to exhaust the total inventory at the current sales pace has grown to 4.9 months' supply—its highest level in over ten years," Yun said. "The ample supply of homes for sale on the market is giving homebuyers better opportunities to negotiate."

NAR also said the median existing home price was $429,100 in August, down 1.7 percent from $436,400 in July but up 1.6 percent from $422,400 a year ago.