California Home Sales Down Year-over-year for 5th Straight Month
The NAR is scheduled to release August Existing Home sales on Thursday, September 25th at 10:00 AM. The consensus is for the NAR to report sales of 3.98 million SAAR. Last year, the NAR reported sales in August 2024 at 3.93 million SAAR.
Housing economist Tom Lawler expects the NAR to report August sales of 3.90 million SAAR.
California reports Seasonally Adjusted (SA) sales and some measures of inventory whereas most of the local is Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA).
From the California Association of Realtors® (C.A.R.): California home sales rebound in August as lower rates lift demand, C.A.R. says
A modest improvement in mortgage rates and stabilizing home prices boosted California home sales in August, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said today.
Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 264,240 in August, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations and MLSs statewide. The statewide annualized sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2025 if sales maintained the August pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.
August home sales activity edged up 0.9 percent from the 261,820 homes sold in July and slipped 0.2 percent from a year ago, when 264,640 homes were sold on an annualized basis. August’s sales level remained slightly below last year’s revised level and marked the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year sales declines. It was also the 35th straight month in which the seasonally adjusted sales rate remained below the 300,000 benchmark. …
The statewide median home price rose to $899,140 in August, rebounding after three straight months of year-over-year declines. The price increased 1.7 percent from July — recovering much of the previous month’s drop — and was 1.2 percent higher than the same time last year. This monthly gain also surpassed the long-term July-to-August average of 1.2 percent. With prices showing stability in August and mortgage rates falling to their lowest level in a year, the housing market may see improved support in the months ahead. …
• The Unsold Inventory Index (UII) edged higher in August compared to July, as housing demand remained soft despite showing some slight improvement. The index was 3.9 months in August, a slight increase from 3.7 in July and up from 3.2 months in August 2024. Total active listings were up 23.5 percent from a year earlier, the slowest pace of growth since March 2024 — and slipped from the 69-month high recorded in the prior month. August marked the fourth consecutive month of decelerating inventory growth, suggesting that while supply conditions remain favorable for buyers, momentum on the supply side may continue to ease as the market follows its seasonal pattern and begins to decelerate in the fourth quarter.emphasis added
This is in line with national sales being mostly unchanged year-over-year.


