Existing-Home Sales Hit Highest Mark Since 2006

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing home sales are sizzling as the summer closes out. As sales in this genre continued to climb during August, the lion’s share of the summer season (the past three months of May, June, and July) experienced positive sales gains.

This growth (both month-over-month and year-over-year) was experienced across the board in America, with all four of its major regions posting gains. The most stellar performer among the four regions was the Northeast region, which showed the most improvement from the previous month.

Specific statistics revealed by NAR were that total existing home sales (completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops) saw an uptick of 2.4% from July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6 million during the month of August. Regarding sales as a whole, those experienced an increase of up to 10.5% (year-over-year) from this same time last year (records showed 5.43 million sales in August 2019).

NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun commented on this summer’s surge in home sales, as well as what to expect in the weeks and months to come: “Home sales continue to amaze, and there are plenty of buyers in the pipeline ready to enter the market. Further gains in sales are likely for the remainder of the year, with mortgage rates hovering around 3% and with continued job recovery.”

Further revealed by NAR in its recent report was facts relating to home prices on the present day market. According to NAR, the median existing home price[for all housing types during August was $310,600. This price tag shows an increase of 11.4% from last year in August, which showed home prices hovering at a far lower $278,800. With home prices rising in every region, the month of August’s national price increase seems to be cause for celebration, marking 102 consecutive months of year-over-year gains.

The detailed report can be accessed here on NAR's website.