NEW YORK — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed in August for the seventh month in a row, as sharply higher mortgage rates and rising home prices made homebuying less affordable, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The report found existing home sales fell 0.4% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.8 million. That’s higher than what economists were expecting, according to FactSet.
Sales fell 19.9% from August last year, and are now at the slowest annual pace since May 2020, near the start of the pandemic. The national median home price jumped 7.7% in August from a year earlier to $389,500.
"The softness in home sales reflects this year's escalating mortgage rates," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Nonetheless, homeowners are doing well with near nonexistent distressed property sales and home prices still higher than a year ago."
Nationally, the NAR report found properties typically stayed on the market for about 16 days in August, a two day increase from July, but down from 17 days in August 2021. Those findings are similar to ones released by Zillow for the Tampa area real estate market.
Cash was still kind on the real estate market with all-cash sales accounting for 24% of all transactions in August, roughly the same as in July though slightly higher than August 2021.
The NAR also said mortgage commitment rates were at 5.22, the highest rates have been since April 2010.
