The National Association of Realtors released a report on Wednesday showing a pullback by U.S. existing home sales in the month of August.<\/p>\n
NAR said existing home sales slumped by 2.0 percent to an annual rate of 5.88 million in August after jumping by 2.2 percent to a revised rate of 6.00 million in July.<\/p>\n
Economists had expected existing home sales to decrease by 1.7 percent to a rate of 5.89 million from the 5.99 million originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n
“Sales slipped a bit in August as prices rose nationwide,” said NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Although there was a decline in home purchases, potential buyers are out and about searching, but much more measured about their financial limits, and simply waiting for more inventory.”<\/p>\n
The report said the median existing home price for all housing types was $356,700 in August, down 0.8 percent from $359,500 in July but up 14.9 percent from $310,400 in August of 2020.<\/p>\n
Housing inventory at the end of August totaled 1.29 million units, down 1.5 percent from 1.31 million units in July and down 13.4 percent from 1.49 million units a year ago <\/p>\n
The unsold inventory represents 2.6 months of supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from July but down from 3.0 months in August of 2020.<\/p>\n
“High home prices make for an unbalanced market, but prices would normalize with more supply,” Yun said.<\/p>\n
The report also showed single-family home sales fell by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 5.19 million in August, while existing condominium and co-op sales tumbled by 2.8 percent to a rate of 690,000.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new home sales in the month of August.<\/p>\n
Economists currently expect new home sales to drop by 1.1 percent to an annual rate of 700,000 in August from a rate of 708,000 in July. <\/p>\n