US: Existing Home Sales increase by 2.4% in August as expected

• Existing Home Sales in the US rose for the third straight month in August.
• US Dollar Index clings to daily gains near 93.80.

Existing Home Sales in the United States rose by 2.4% in August, the data published by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed on Friday. This reading followed July's impressive increase of 24.7% and came in line with the market expectation.

Commenting on the data, "home sales continue to amaze, and there are plenty of buyers in the pipeline ready to enter the market," said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. "Further gains in sales are likely for the remainder of the year, with mortgage rates hovering around 3% and with continued job recovery."

Additional takeaways from the press release

"The median existing-home price for all housing types in August was $310,600, up 11.4% from August 2019 ($278,800), as prices rose in every region."

"Existing-home sales continued to climb in August, marking three consecutive months of positive sales gains."

"Sales as a whole rose year-over-year, up 10.5% from a year ago (5.43 million in August 2019)."

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index pushed higher in the last minutes and is currently gaining 0.27% on the day at 93.80.