Sales of previously owned homes fell 0.4% in August from July to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.80 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is the slowest sales pace since May 2020, when activity stalled very briefly due to the start of the Covid pandemic.

Outside of that, it is the slowest pace since November 2015. Sales were 19.9% lower than in August 2021.

The sales figures represent closings, so contracts that were likely signed in June and July, when mortgage rates spiked higher and then pulled back. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage began June at around 5.5% and then shot up over 6% by the middle of the month, according to Mortgage News Daily. It then pulled back a bit, hanging in the 5.7% range for most of July before dropping further to the low 5% range at the end of the month.

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