US existing home sales fall 0.7% in August

Home prices continue to rise despite lower sales, supply needs to double to moderate price gains, says economist

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US existing home sales decreased by 0.7% in August, compared to the month before, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Thursday.

Existing home sales, which measures the change in the number of existing residential buildings sold, fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.04 million last month.

While the market expectation for the figure was to come in at 4.1 million, it stood at 4.07 million in July.

On an annual basis, sales were down 15.3% from 4.77 million in August 2022.

"Mortgage rate changes will have a big impact over the short run, while job gains will have a steady, positive impact over the long run," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

"Home prices continue to march higher despite lower home sales. Supply needs to essentially double to moderate home price gains," he added.

The median existing-home sales price was $407,100 -- an increase of 3.9% from August 2022 when it stood at $391,700.

Kaynak: