Existing home sales tumbled 4.8 per cent in August to a 5.31 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the National Association of Realtors said Monday, the steepest month-to-month decline since January, when they fell 4.9 per cent.
Existing Home Sales, US
Behind the decline in existing home sales were particularly big drops in the West and the South, two areas where prices have risen particularly sharply. In the South, where the median home price is up 6 per cent over a year ago, month-to-month sales fell 6.6 per cent. And in the West, where the median price rose 7.1 per cent over the year, sales were down 7.8 per cent.
Nationwide, the median existing home price hit US$228,700 in August, a 4.7 per cent increase over a year ago.”
Sales of single-family homes were down 5.3 per cent in August while sales of condominiums and co-ops dropped 1.6 per cent.
Sales for July were revised down slightly to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.58 million from 5.59 million.