Existing home sales fall for the fourth month in a row

Existing home sales fell for the fourth time in five months in August, as buyers waited for more inventory and pinched their own pennies.

The number of contracts closed last month declined 2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.88 million from an upwardly revised 6 million in July. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refintiv were expecting a drop to 5.89 million contracts closed.

Sales slipped a bit in August as prices rose across the entire U.S., said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. Although there was a decline in home purchases, potential buyers are only out and about searching, but much more measured about their financial limits and simply waiting for more inventory.