The National Association of Realtors reported that total existing-home inventory reached 1.62 million units at the end of August 2026, up 3.2 percent from July and 5.9 percent from August 2025. Sales moved the other way: existing-home sales fell 2.0 percent in the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million.
More homes on the market and fewer sold is the story of the report. It left the supply of unsold homes at 4.9 months, with the national median price at $429,100.
1.62 million unsold homes, 4.9 months of supply
NAR’s release of September 10 reports the 1.62 million as total housing inventory, the stock of existing homes for sale. It is a level, not a change: the increases are the 3.2 percent rise from July and the 5.9 percent rise from a year earlier. NAR expressed it as 4.9 months of supply, meaning the number of months it would take to sell the inventory at the August sales rate.
The 1.62 million is not a sales figure. It sits beside the 3.98 million annual sales rate in the same release, but one counts homes waiting for buyers and the other counts the pace at which homes change hands. The link between them is the months-of-supply measure: 4.9 months is what the inventory represents at the current sales pace.
Working backward from NAR’s percentages gives a rough sense of scale. A 3.2 percent monthly rise to 1.62 million implies about 1.57 million units at the end of July, and a 5.9 percent annual rise implies about 1.53 million a year earlier. Those two figures are the author’s arithmetic on NAR’s rounded numbers, not published values, and they are approximate.
Sales down 2.0 percent to 3.98 million
The 3.98 million figure is a seasonally adjusted annual rate. It is 2.0 percent below July and 1.2 percent below August 2025. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said mortgage rates and home sales move in opposite directions, so a mild dip in buying activity is unsurprising with mortgage rates high.
Regionally, the release shows that the Northeast was down 4.0 percent from July at an annual rate of 480,000, the Midwest down 3.1 percent at 940,000, and the South down 1.6 percent at 1.84 million. The West was flat at 720,000. Every region lost ground or stood still, and none posted a gain.
Taken together, sales at 3.98 million a year, inventory 5.9 percent above August 2025 and homes sitting two days longer than in July describe a market where buyers are not absorbing the added supply quickly. Yun tied the dip in buying to mortgage rates, and the release records no sales gain in any of the four regions.
A $429,100 median and 31 days on the market
The median existing-home price was $429,100, up 1.6 percent from $422,400 in August 2025. Homes typically stayed on the market 31 days, up from 29 in July, so listings are taking longer to find a buyer. First-time buyers made up 30 percent of sales, up from 29 percent in July, and cash sales were 27 percent, up from 26 percent.
Regional medians run well apart: $556,900 in the Northeast, $340,400 in the Midwest, $366,500 in the South and $619,100 in the West. Annual price changes ranged from a 4.3 percent gain in the Northeast to a 0.2 percent decline in the West. The national median is $6,700 higher than a year earlier, a 1.6 percent rise. That national figure averages together very different local markets, a point that holds for any single U.S. price number.
Existing-home supply set against new construction and Redfin’s count
Two other measures help place NAR’s inventory count. The Census Bureau’s August new residential sales release reported 483,000 new houses for sale at the end of the month, equal to 8.5 months of supply at the current sales rate, with sales of new single-family houses at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000. Measured in months, new-home supply is much deeper than the 4.9 months NAR reports for existing homes.
Redfin’s U.S. housing market page counts 1,534,918 homes for sale in August, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier. That is a different series from NAR’s 1.62 million, built from MLS and public records on a calendar-month basis, and the two are not additive or interchangeable. They agree on direction: more homes for sale than a year before. They differ on supply depth: Redfin’s page shows a four-month supply on all home types, while NAR’s 4.9 months covers existing homes only and rests on NAR’s own sales rate.
The pairing of rising inventory and falling sales is what moves a market toward balance. Inventory up 5.9 percent over the year and a median price up 1.6 percent are consistent with a market where supply is growing and prices are rising only slowly. NAR’s August report records the position as of the end of the month: 1.62 million existing homes for sale, 4.9 months of supply, 3.98 million sales at an annual rate and a median price of $429,100.
Where the property-tax bill sits beside the sale price
Many homeowners and renters first meet property-tax relief as a form with a deadline: an exemption, a freeze or a circuit-breaker credit that has to be requested. Heating, cooling and home-repair assistance works the same way, with separate applications and renewal dates.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit is an 11-page kit that explains the 5 kinds of property-tax relief and the circuit-breaker credit that includes renters, and it includes an application log and renewal calendar.
Download the kit that tracks relief applications and renewal dates →
This article was written with AI assistance and its inventory, sales and price figures were checked against the NAR, Census and Redfin pages linked above on October 4, 2026.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
