Home sales slip below 4 million as listings pile up

Sales of previously owned homes fell 2.0% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday, the first time below 4 million since June 2025.

Supply kept building. Inventory rose to 1.62 million homes, up 5.9% from a year earlier and above 1.6 million for the first time since November 2019. At the current pace that is a 4.9-month supply, the highest in more than a decade.

Prices still edged up. The median existing-home price was $429,100, up 1.6% from a year earlier, the 38th straight annual increase.

Redfin said the same day that sellers outnumbered buyers by 57.9% in August, the strongest buyer’s market in its records. NAR’s Lawrence Yun said high mortgage rates explain the dip in sales.