US existing home sales continue growing in August

According to the National Association of Realtors, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number of total existing home sales jumped by 2.4% versus July, reaching an annualised pace of 6.0m.

August's reading was exactly in-line with economists' forecasts.

With mortgage rates then at about 3% and hiring still headed higher, further gains in sales were likely over the remainder of 2020, said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

"Home sales continue to amaze, and there are plenty of buyers in the pipeline ready to enter the market," he added.

Measured against the same month one year ago, new homes sales were ahead by 10.5%.

Prices were also higher alongside and the stockpile of available homes for sale lower.

The median price of an existing home was up by 11.4% year-on-year to $310,600 with price inflation to be seen across all regions of the US.

Total housing inventory meanwhile was whittled down by 0.7% on the month to the equivalent of a "scarce" three months' worth of sales, versus 3.1 months' worth in July and four months' worth in August 2019.

Yun added: "Over recent months, we have seen lumber prices surge dramatically.

"This has already led to an increase in the cost of multifamily housing and an even higher increase for single-family homes."