Home prices continued to climb in August, even as sales dropped

Home prices continued to climb in August, even as home sales dropped, a result of the low inventory of homes for sale and stubbornly high mortgage rates keeping would-be buyers out of the market, according to a monthly report from the National Association of Realtors.

The median price for existing homes — which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — was $407,100 last month. That was up 3.9% from a year ago when the median home price was $391,700. Prices rose in all four regions of the country, the Northeast, Midwest, South and the West, the NAR report found.

The month before, in July, prices also went up, reversing five months of year-over-year declines.

“Home prices continue to march higher despite lower home sales,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said. “Supply needs to essentially double to moderate home price gains.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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