A notice indicating that a home has been sold appears on a sign in residential section of San Francisco, Friday, April 21, 2023. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell for the third month in a row in August, as higher mortgage rates, rising prices and a dearth of properties on the market discouraged many would-be homebuyers.
“Home prices continue to march higher despite lower home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist. “Supply needs to essentially double to moderate home price gains.” All told, there were 1.1 million homes on the market by the end of last month, down 0.9% from July and 14.1% from August last year, the NAR said.
Because home sales typically take about a month to be finalized once a contract is signed, transactions in August happened as the rate for a 30-year mortgage averaged just under 7%.