While the latest Existing Home Sales report showed signs of slippage, it could be great news for house hunters.

What is the Existing Home Sales report? Reported monthly by the National Association of REALTORS^® (NAR), the Existing Home Sales report is a measure of the selling rate of pre-owned single-family homes, which account for roughly 84 percent of all houses sold.

What’s happened recently? August Existing Home Sales declined by nearly 2 percent from July to an annual rate of 5.05 million units. Most economists were expecting sales to increase to 5.2 million units from July’s reading of 5.14 million. This was the first decline in five months.

What’s the bottom line? According to NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, the decline was due in large part to the withdrawal of all-cash sales from investors. The silver lining is that first-time buyers now have a better chance of purchasing a home due to the corresponding reduction of bidding wars and supply constraints.

I’ll continue to monitor all the housing reports closely. If you have any immediate questions, please call or email today.