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Existing home sales fall as mortgage rates hit over-a-year highs
In August, existing home sales slipped 2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million homes, while mortgage rates held around 6.6% to 6.7%.
Existing home sales declined in August as mortgage rates reached their highest level in over a year, cooling demand for prospective buyers, according to data from the National Association of Realtors released Thursday, as covered by Yahoo Finance.
Existing home sales fell 2% from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million homes, and the pace is down 1.2% from August a year earlier. Rates spent most of August between 6.6% and 6.7%, and last week they rose to 6.71%, the highest since mid-2025.
Yahoo Finance reports that rates have continued to climb in recent days, tied to a global bond market sell-off and rising oil prices. Lawrence Yun, the NAR chief economist, said home sales and mortgage rates tend to move in opposite directions, and that higher rates are not good for the near-term outlook on sales.
Sales weakened month over month in most regions except the West, which was flat, while the pricey Northeast saw a 4% drop. Even as transactions slowed, the median home sold price rose to $429,100 in August, up 1.6% year over year.