Weekly Real Estate News
Summary
September existing-home sales rose 1.5% to a 3.99 million annual pace, down 2.2% year over year. Inventory rose to 1.60 million; the median price reached $417,500. Rising mortgage rates threaten the recovery.
Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in September for the first time since May, but the improvement left the market running below a 4 million annual pace for a second consecutive month. A fresh rise in mortgage rates now threatens to undercut even that modest recovery.
Existing-home sales increased 1.5% from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.99 million, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. Transactions were still 2.2% lower than a year earlier. August’s sales estimate was revised downward, contributing to September’s month-over-month increase.
The national median existing-home price reached $417,500, up 1.3% from September 2025 and the highest September median on record. The combination of weak transaction volume and still-rising prices illustrates how little relief the market has delivered to households struggling to qualify for a mortgage.
“Despite the small monthly gain on a seasonally adjusted basis, August and September marked the two slowest months for home sales this year,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said, according to Reuters’ account of the release. Yun warned that the recent increase in mortgage rates would leave fewer prospective buyers able to qualify.
More homes for sale, but few additional closings
Housing inventory rose 1.9% from August to 1.60 million properties at the end of September, an increase of 4.6% from a year earlier and the highest total since November 2019. At the current selling pace, that represents 4.8 months of supply, unchanged from August but up from 4.5 months a year ago.
The additional listings are giving some buyers greater choice and leverage, though they have not translated into a sustained increase in completed transactions. Homes spent a median 33 days on the market, compared with 31 days in August. Cash purchases accounted for 27% of sales, while first-time buyers represented 31%.
Regional results were uneven. Sales advanced in the South and West, declined in the Northeast and were unchanged in the Midwest. Those differences matter to brokers and lenders because a national gain can conceal considerably weaker conditions in individual markets.
The mortgage-rate risk is arriving after these closings
September’s closed sales largely reflect purchase decisions and mortgage commitments made earlier in the summer. Since then, financing costs have risen sharply. Freddie Mac reported a 7.40% average 30-year fixed mortgage rate for the week ending October 8, the highest since November 2023.
That timing makes the September increase a limited indicator of where sales are headed. Buyers who qualified when rates were lower may have closed in September, while households shopping at today’s borrowing costs face a different affordability calculation. A higher rate can raise the monthly payment substantially even when the purchase price stays the same.
The weak annual sales comparison also places the monthly rebound in perspective. The 3.99 million pace remains well below the roughly 5.2 million annual level historically typical of the market, according to Associated Press reporting. Sales have struggled to recover since the sharp rise in borrowing costs beginning in 2022.
For real estate agents, the immediate issue is whether growing inventory produces more signed contracts or simply longer marketing times and further price negotiations. For mortgage originators, the question is whether borrowers can absorb the latest rate increase. September’s closings show that transactions can improve at the margin; they do not yet establish a durable turnaround.
