-2.0%

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Existing-home sales decreased by 2.0% in August 2026. 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.”

Yun continued, “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.”

The Existing-Home Sales data measures sales and prices of existing single-family homes for the nation overall, and gives breakdowns for the West, Midwest, South, and Northeast regions of the country. These figures include condos and co-ops, in addition to single-family homes.

Existing-Home Sales for September 2026 will be released on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

Existing Home Sales data are provided by NAR solely for use as a reference. No part of this data may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or redistributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without NAR's prior written consent for those who are not members of NAR.

Members of the media who need copies of previous months' existing-home sales news releases can contact the NAR media communications team at 202-383-7515.

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Existing-Home Sales for September 2026 will be released on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

NAR Media Communications issues a news release close to mid-month with the latest existing-home sales figures. The releases include analysis and quotes by NAR's Chief Economist Lawrence Yun regarding the sales volume, prices, inventory and interest rates.

NAR Research Data Release Dates