Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in September from the previous month, but slowed compared to a year ago, the latest sign the housing market remains stalled as rising mortgage rates and home prices discourage prospective homebuyers.
Existing home sales rose 1.5% last month from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.99 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. One of the factors in the monthly increase is that sales in August were revised lower.
Sales fell 2.2% compared with September last year. The latest sales tally is slightly above the 3.98 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.
Home sales have been mostly hovering close to a 4-million annual pace going back to 2023, far short of the historic norm that is closer to 5.2-million. September is the second month in a row that the annual sales pace has remained below 4 million.
Home prices continued to rise nationally last month. The U.S. median sales price increased 1.3% in September from a year earlier to $417,500, an all-time high for the month of September based on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 39 months in a row.
“This is a very tough market out there, especially with mortgage rates rising,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.
The U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last year, stuck at a 30-year low.
This year, sales have been in a rut in large part due to rising borrowing costs, as mortgage rates have marched higher in the months since the war between the U.S. and Iran started in late February. Expectations of higher inflation amid surging oil prices have pushed up the long-term bond yields that lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans, driving mortgage rates higher.
The average rate on the benchmark 30-year mortgage hit 7.4% last week, its highest level in nearly three years. It briefly dipped below 6% before the war started.
Many of the homes purchased last month likely went under contract in August and July, when the average rate on a 30-year mortgage ranged from 6.43% to 6.69%, according to Freddie Mac.
Mortgage rates are not likely to drop meaningfully any time soon, given the ongoing uncertainty over oil prices, geopolitical tensions, the exploding U.S. government debt and other factors that have been driving rates on home loans higher, Yun said.
Homebuyers should consider mortgage rates at 7%, or slightly above 7%, “the new normal,” he said.
The sharp rise in mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, has led many would-be home shoppers to put their home shopping plans on hold.
However, those who can afford to buy at current rates, or pay all cash, have a much wider selection of homes to choose from than they've had in years as properties sit on the market longer.
Although home inventory levels remain below historical norms, there were 1.6 million unsold homes at the end of last month — the highest level of unsold inventory on the market since November 2019, NAR said.
All told, unsold home inventory rose 1.9% last month from August and climbed 4.6% from September last year, NAR said.
September’s month-end inventory translates to a 4.8-months’ supply at the current sales pace. Traditionally, a 4- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
The more balanced market gives home shoppers potentially more leverage in negotiating better terms with sellers, especially if a property has not fetched offers in weeks or months.
Consider, in September, the national median home listing price fell 1.2% from a year earlier to $419,250 as about 21% of listings had their initial price lowered, according to Realtor.com.
“The market is clearly tilting in favor of buyers able to negotiate for better prices,” Yun said.
FILE - For sale sign is seen outside of a home in Arlington Heights, Ill., Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Greta Thunberg on Tuesday threw her high-profile support behind high school protesters rattling the government in France, saying “the whole world is watching with awe."
She joined and applauded hundreds of teenagers who demonstrated boisterously outside a school north of Paris under the watchful eye of police.
The surprise appearance by the 23-year-old climate activist, along with another day of marches in the French capital and elsewhere, suggested that high school students' push for more resources for run-down schools is far from running out of steam. That's despite mass arrests, mounting injuries and fatigue from more than three weeks of blockading schools and demonstrating.
Police used clouds of tear gas, water cannons and repeated charges to disperse protesters Tuesday when violence erupted on the fringes of the Paris marches. The Interior Ministry estimated that 161,500 people marched in demonstrations across the country, including 41,500 in Paris.
Outside the Paul Éluard high school in Saint-Denis, where staff and students have long complained of dilapidated facilities and even rat infestations, Thunberg said French pupils are “fighting back, reclaiming their future that has been taken away from them" and are inspiring young people in other countries.
“The international community sees these students and they’re leading by example," she said to The Associated Press. "This generation is one that has been growing up with a sense of hopelessness for the future, when we can see our future and our rights taken from us,” she said.
“Of course people are going to fight back," she added.
The students' grievances have resonated in neighboring Belgium, where some schools closed in Liege. Several Italian cities have also seen student protests, though on a smaller scale than in France and focused on broader complaints. In Germany, high school students are calling for an international youth strike on Nov. 20, in solidarity with the French protests.
Some French pupils say they see parallels between their protests and the “Cockroach” youth movement challenging the government in India and youth-led demonstrations a year ago in Morocco that also demanded better schools and hospitals.
Thunberg also cited protests in Spain, gripped by demonstrations for affordable housing, and in Latin America.
“These movements are connected in one way or another. We are fighting against the same system," she said. "Even though these local issues are different and may vary, we have the same enemy and I definitely think that these movements are inspiring each other.”
The government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, whose term ends in May, argues that the movement in France is losing momentum. The Education Ministry said fewer schools were closed Tuesday although the number of staff injured since protests began in mid-September has risen to 147. The government says hundreds of police officers have also been wounded but has not detailed the severity of their injuries.
Among protesters, particularly gruesome wounds suffered by some teenagers have been blamed on police riot-control weapons. The interior minister suspended the use of a type of police stun grenade against the young demonstrators after a 15-year-old lost a hand.
Pupils and university students who blockaded the Maurice Ravel high school in eastern Paris on Tuesday said they feel that their complaints are being heard by supporters in France and abroad but not by the government. Some vowed to keep protesting until that changes.
“We’re certainly making noise and getting people talking, but unfortunately, our message isn’t reaching the people who should be making the changes,” said Ryan, a 20-year-old student who said he didn't want to give his surname for fear of possible repercussions.
"That’s why the movement needs to keep going and persist.”
Corbet reported from Paris.
Activist Greta Thunberg atends a gathering in front of the Paul Eluard high school during a protest against under-resourced schools in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
Activist Greta Thunberg answers journalist's questions as she attends a gathering in front of the Paul Eluard high school during a protest against under-resourced schools in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
Activist Greta Thunberg answers journalist's questions as she attends a gathering in front of the Paul Eluard high school during a protest against under-resourced schools in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
Activist Greta Thunberg poses as she attends a gathering in front of Paul Eluard high school during a protest against under-resourced schools in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, Tuesday Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/John Leicester)
