Sales of previously occupied homes in the US fell in August to their slowest annual pace in more than a year. This decline occurred as prospective homebuyers faced increasing mortgage rates and home prices.
Existing home sales decreased by 2% last month compared to July, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. This marks the third consecutive monthly fall in sales.
The average rate for a 30-year mortgage hit 6.76% this week, the highest it has been in over 14 months. This rate had briefly dropped below 6% before the war between the US and Iran began in late February.
Despite the slowdown in sales, national home prices continued to rise last month. The US median sales price for August increased by 1.6% from a year earlier to $429,100, setting a new record for the month based on data since 1999.
The number of unsold homes on the market increased by 3.2% from July and 5.9% from August last year, reaching 1.62 million units. This represents a 4.9-months' supply at the current sales pace, the highest level in over 10 years.