Existing home sales in the U.S. fell by much more than expected in the month of August, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Monday.
NAR said existing home sales tumbled by 4.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.31 million in August from a downwardly revised 5.58 million in July.
Economists had been expecting existing home sales to dip to a rate of 5.50 million from the 5.59 million originally reported for the previous month.
Despite the monthly decrease, NAR noted existing home sales have risen year-over-year for 11 consecutive months and are 6.2 percent above a year ago.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said, “Sales activity was down in many parts of the country last month – especially in the South and West – as the persistent summer theme of tight inventory levels likely deterred some buyers.”
“The good news for the housing market is that price appreciation the last two months has started to moderate from the unhealthier rate of growth seen earlier this year,” he added.
The report said the median existing home price for all housing types was $228,700 in August, down 1.3 percent from $231,800 in July but up 4.7 percent from $218,400 a year ago.
NAR also said there were 2.29 million existing homes available for sale at the end of August, reflecting a 1.3 percent increase from 2.26 million at the end of July. Housing inventory was down 1.7 percent year-over-year.
The number of homes for sale in August represents 5.2 months of supply at the current sales pace, up from 4.9 months in July.
“With sales and overall demand higher than a year ago and supply mostly unchanged, low inventories will likely continue to limit options for those looking to buy this fall even with the overall pool of buyers shrinking because of seasonal factors,” Yun said.
Thursday morning, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new home sales in the month of August.
Economists currently expect new home sales to climb to an annual rate of 515,000 in August from 507,000 in July.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com