A sold sign is displayed in front of a house for sale on August 27, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty images
Sales of previously owned houses were mainly stable in August, out of 4 million units on a seasonal and annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. This is a drop of 0.2% compared to July and an increase of 1.8% compared to the August of last year. Sales were the strongest in the Midwest and the weakest in the northeast.
This count is based on closures, so people signing their transactions in June and July, when mortgage rates were around 50 base points higher than today. The rates began to drop sharply in early September, which would not appear in these figures.
The upper end of the market moves better than the lower end. Housing sales greater than $ 1 million earned 8% from one year to the next, the most efficient. However, sales of houses of less than $ 100,000 fell by more than 10% compared to a year ago.
“The wealth of record housing and a record stock market will help current owners develop and benefit at the upper end of the market. However, sales of affordable houses are limited by lack of inventory,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of real estate agents, in a statement.
The Midwest was the most efficient region in August, said NAR, noting affordable market conditions. The prices of median houses in the Midwest were 22% lower than the national median price, according to the report.
The offer is what seems to change the most on the housing market at the moment. After a fairly large position earlier this year, the offer dropped 1.3% last month from July, although it is still up 11.7% from one year to the next. It was the first monthly drop since the start of this year.
Sellers, seeing lower prices and higher mortgage rates, leave the market or decide to wait a little longer before registering in the first place. There was a 4.6 -month -old house offer for sale in August, which is considered to be skinny.
The lower offer maintains prices in positive territory. The median price of an existing house sold in August was $ 422,600, up 2% compared to a year ago and the 26th consecutive month of annual price gains.
The houses remain on the market longer, by scoring 31 days on average in August, against 26 in August 2024. The share of buyers for the first time is historically low at 28%, and buyers of all cases are still king at 28% of sales, against 26% a year ago.