NAR Existing-Home Sales Report Shows 2.0% Decrease in August

Washington, D.C., Sept. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Existing-home sales decreased by 2.0% month-over-month and 1.2% year-over-year, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Existing-Home Sales report. The report provides the real estate ecosystem—including agents, homebuyers and sellers—with data on the level of home sales, price, and inventory.

Month-over-month sales held steady in the West and declined in the Northeast, Midwest and South. Year-over-year sales were unchanged in the South and declined in the Northeast, Midwest and West.

“Mortgage rates and home sales move in opposite directions, so it's not surprising to see a mild dip in home buying activity due to high mortgage rates,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Still, home prices are rising, and existing home sales are actually up 1.6% year-to-date through the first eight months of the year. Homebuying demand, despite higher interest rates, is no doubt being supported by rising wages, which grew 3.1% in August, along with 643,000 net new jobs added since the start of the year. Job creation and wage growth typically drive housing demand.”

“The number of months it would take to exhaust the total inventory at the current sales pace has grown to 4.9 months’ supply—its highest level in over ten years. The ample supply of homes for sale on the market is giving homebuyers better opportunities to negotiate,” Yun added.

National Snapshot

Total Existing-Home Sales for August

• 2.0% decrease in existing-home sales¹ month-over-month.
• 1.2% decrease in existing-home sales year-over-year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million. The last time sales activity fell below 4.0 million was in June 2025.
  
  

Inventory in August

• 1.62 million units: Total housing inventory², up 3.2% from July and up 5.9% from August 2025. This was the first time since November 2019 that inventory exceeded 1.6 million units.
• 4.9-month supply of unsold inventory, up from 4.6 months in July and 4.6 months in August 2025.
  
  

Median Sales Price in August

• $429,100: Median existing-home price³ for all housing types
• 1.6% increase from one year ago ($422,400)—the 38th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.

Housing Affordability in August

• The Housing Affordability Index registered at 104.7, up from 101.2 a year ago.

• Year-over-year, affordability improved across all regions.
  • Northeast +0.5%
  • Midwest +1.7%
  • South +4.5%
  • West +5.9%

Single-Family and Condo/Co-op Sales

Single-Family Homes in August

• 1.9% decrease in sales month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.62 million, down 1.1% from August 2025.
• $434,800: Median home price, up 1.7% from last year.

Condominiums and Co-ops in August

• 2.7% decrease in sales month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 360,000
  • Down 2.7% from last year.
• $371,600: Median price, up 1.5% from August 2025.

Regional Snapshot for Existing-Home Sales in August

Northeast

• 4.0% decrease in sales month-over-month to an annual rate of 480,000

• • Down 2.0% from August 2025

• $556,900: Median price, up 4.3% from August 2025
  
  

Midwest

• 3.1% decrease in sales month-over-month to an annual rate of 940,000
  • Down 2.1% year-over-year
• $340,400: Median price, up 3.3% from August 2025
  
  

South

• 1.6% decrease in sales month-over-month to an annual rate of 1.84 million
  • Unchanged from August 2025
• $366,500: Median price, up 0.7% from August 2025
  
  

West

• Unchanged in sales month-over-month at an annual rate of 720,000
  • Down 2.7% year-over-year
• $619,100: Median price, down 0.2% from August 2025

REALTORS® Confidence Index for August

• 31 days: Median time on market for properties, up from 29 days last month
  • Unchanged from 31 days in August 2025
• 30% of sales were first-time homebuyers, up from 29% in July
  • Up from 28% one year ago
• 27% of transactions were cash sales, up from 26% last month
  • Down from 28% in August 2025
• 15% of transactions were individual investors or second-home buyers, up from 14% last month
  • Down from 21% one year ago
• 2% of sales were distressed sales⁴ (foreclosures and short sales), unchanged from last month
  • Unchanged from 2% one year ago

Mortgage Rates

• 6.67%: The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in August, according to Freddie Mac, up from 6.54% in July and up from 6.59% one year ago.

About the National Association of REALTORS^®
The National Association of REALTORS^® is involved in all aspects of residential and commercial real estate. The term REALTOR^® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS^® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. For free consumer guides about navigating the homebuying and selling transaction processes—from written buyer agreements to negotiating compensation—visit facts.realtor.

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Information about NAR is available at nar.realtor. This and other news releases are posted in the newsroom at nar.realtor/newsroom. Statistical data in this release, as well as other tables and surveys, are posted in the “Research and Statistics” tab.

[1] Existing-home sales, which include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, are based on transaction closings from Multiple Listing Services. Changes in sales trends outside of MLSs are not captured in the monthly series. NAR benchmarks home sales periodically using other sources to assess overall home sales trends, including sales not reported by MLSs.
Existing-home sales, based on closings, differ from the U.S. Census Bureau’s series on new single-family home sales, which are based on contracts or the acceptance of a deposit. Because of these differences, it is not uncommon for each series to move in different directions in the same month. In addition, existing-home sales, which account for more than 90% of total home sales, are based on a much larger data sample – about 40% of multiple listing service data each month – and typically are not subject to large prior-month revisions.
The annual rate for a particular month represents what the total number of actual sales for a year would be if the relative pace for that month were maintained for 12 consecutive months. Seasonally adjusted annual rates are used in reporting monthly data to factor out seasonal variations in resale activity. For example, home sales volume is normally higher in the summer than in the winter, primarily because of differences in the weather and family buying patterns. However, seasonal factors cannot compensate for abnormal weather patterns.
Single-family data collection began monthly in 1968, while condo data collection began quarterly in 1981; the series were combined in 1999 when monthly collection of condo data began. Prior to this period, single-family homes accounted for more than nine out of 10 purchases. Historic comparisons for total home sales prior to 1999 are based on monthly single-family sales, combined with the corresponding quarterly sales rate for condos.

2 Total inventory and month’s supply data are available back through 1999, while single-family inventory and month’s supply are available back to 1982 (prior to 1999, single-family sales accounted for more than 90% of transactions and condos were measured only on a quarterly basis).

3 The median price is where half sold for more and half sold for less; medians are more typical of market conditions than average prices, which are skewed higher by a relatively small share of upper-end transactions. The only valid comparisons for median prices are with the same period a year earlier due to seasonality in buying patterns. Month-to-month comparisons do not compensate for seasonal changes, especially for the timing of family buying patterns. Changes in the composition of sales can distort median price data. Year-ago median and mean prices sometimes are revised in an automated process if additional data is received.
The national median condo/co-op price often is higher than the median single-family home price because condos are concentrated in higher-cost housing markets. However, in a given area, single-family homes typically sell for more than condos as seen in NAR’s quarterly metro area price reports.

4 Distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales), days on market, first-time buyers, all-cash transactions and investors are from a monthly survey for the NAR’s REALTORS^® Confidence Index, posted at nar.realtor.

National Association of Realtors®
[email protected]

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