the real estate market is churning again and based on the latest home sales numbers from several sources the end of private home bidding wars may be nearing its end according to the national association of realtors nar existing home sales declined for the sixth consecutive month dropping 59 from june to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481 million the numbers represent a more than 20 drop from a year ago the association is quick to blame rising mortgage rates as the main culprit “the ongoing sales decline reflects the impact of the mortgage rate peak of 6 in early june” nar chief economist lawrence yun said “home sales may soon stabilize since mortgage rates have fallen to near 5 thereby giving an additional boost of purchasing power to homebuyers” at the same time online real estate brokerage redfin corp rdfn reported a 193 yearoveryear sales drop in july to their lowest level since the beginning of the pandemic when the housing market stalled to a near standstill redfin also blamed rising mortgage rates as the reason “the buyers who are still in the game are finally getting a break from bidding wars which means they can be picky” north carolina redfin agent pam lewis said “three months ago buyers were saying ‘get me a building with four walls and i’ll make it work’ now they have some choices” nar also reported that home prices are still going up at a rate of nearly 11 compared to last year and prices were up in all four national regions marking the 125th consecutive month of yearoveryear increases that mark breaks an industry record streak of rising prices median home prices were at 444000 in the northeast an 81 increase 293300 in the midwest a 7 increase 365200 in the south up 147 and 614900 in the west up 81 total housing inventory increased 48 from july to 13 million units a 33month supply equal to last year but that good news was countered with the declining sales numbers though july statistics still show homes selling quickly with 82 gone in less than a month for the time being sellers are waiting to put their homes on the market affecting inventory many according to redfin are hesitant to sell because their home mortgage rates are low compared to current rates which have been hovering around 6   the bezosbacked real estate investment platform arrived homes launched a new batch of offerings to allow retail investors to purchase shares of singlefamily rental homes with a minimum investment of 100 the platform has already funded over 150 properties with a total value of over 50 million   vacation rental investment platform here is set to launch its new offering for a san diego property with a 100 minimum investment the company says vacation rentals generate up to 160 more revenue on average than traditional longterm rentals according to data from zillow and airdna find more current offerings and news on benzinga alternative investments