US home sales weaken to slowest pace in more than a year as mortgage rates, home prices climb

Luxury homes are under construction in a subdivision, May 22, 2007 in New Albany, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes declined in August to their slowest annual pace in more than a year as home shoppers grappled with rising mortgage rates and home prices.

Existing home sales fell 2% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. This is the third straight monthly decline.

Sales also fell 1.2% compared with August last year. The latest sales tally is just shy of the 4 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

“It’s not a surprise home sales and mortgage rates move in the opposite direction and we have seen mortgage rates rising, rising, rising from February,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.