2020.09.2215:25:00UTC+00U.S. Existing Home Sales Jump To Nearly 14-Year High In August

Existing home sales in the U.S. climbed to their highest level in nearly fourteen years in the month of August, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Tuesday.

NAR said existing home sales jumped 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 6.000 million in August after skyrocketing by 24.7 percent to a rate of 5.860 million in July. The continued increase in sales matched economist estimates.

With the sharp increase, existing home sales reached their highest level since December of 2006.

"Home sales continue to amaze, and there are plenty of buyers in the pipeline ready to enter the market," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.

He added, "Further gains in sales are likely for the remainder of the year, with mortgage rates hovering around 3% and with continued job recovery."

The report said the median existing-home price for all housing types in August was $310,600, up 11.4 percent from $278,800 in August of 2019.

NAR said total housing inventory at the end of August totaled 1.49 million units, down 0.7 percent from July and down 18.6 percent from one year ago

The unsold inventory represents 3.0 months of supply at the current sales pace, down from 3.1 months in July and down from 4.0 months in August of 2019.