(NAR) US sales of existing homes reached an annual 5.88 million in August, a 2% drop from July. On a year-over-year basis, sales were down 1.5% from a year ago.
All the fall regions of the US posted home sales decline on a monthly and yearly basis.
The fall in sales reflected soaring house prices, with the median price reaching $356,700 in August, up 14.9% year over year.
First-time buyers comprised 29% of August sales, down from 30% in July and 33% in August 2020.
The fall in sales happened even as monthly housing inventory fell 1.5% to reach 1.29 million units in August. The inventory was down 13.4% year over year.
Unsold housing inventory is now at a 2.6-monthly supply at the existing sales pace, the same as July but down from 3.0 months posted in the comparable month of 2020.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says high prices reflect an unbalanced market and expects the costs to come down with more supply.
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