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

AI desk brief

US existing home sales fell 2% m/m in August to a 3.98m annual rate, the slowest pace in more than a year and the third straight monthly decline, as 30-year mortgage rates climbed to 6.76% and the 10-year Treasury yield reached 4.92%. The report reinforces the market’s higher-for-longer rates backdrop that can pressure gold through firmer real yields, even as weaker housing activity underscores slower U.S. demand momentum.

Home prices kept rising despite softer sales, with the median existing-home price up 1.6% y/y to a record August $429,100, while inventory increased to 1.62m unsold homes, the highest supply level in over 10 years at 4.9 months. The article links the mortgage-rate surge to inflation fears from higher oil prices and the US-Iran war, a macro channel worth watching for further spillover into rates and metals sentiment.