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Existing-home sales -- including single-family, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops -- declined 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.10 million units in August from a pace of 5.24 million in July, but remain 3.4 percent above the 4.93 million-unit level in August 2008, the association said.
In the previous four months, sales had risen a total of 15.2 percent.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the tax credit is working.
"Home sales retrenched from a very strong improvement in July but continue to be much higher than before the stimulus," he said.
"The first-time buyer tax credit is having the intended impact of bringing buyers into the market, allowing them to take advantage of very favorable affordability conditions," he added.
Yun explained that some of the give-back in closed sales appears to result from rising numbers of contracts entering the system, with some fallouts and a backlog contributing to a longer closing process.
"But the decline demonstrates we can't take a housing rebound for granted," the economist said.
"The recent trend shows broad improvement in most of the country, but with an expected rise in foreclosures over the next 12 months we need to maintain a healthy level of ready buyers to absorb the inventory. An extension of the tax credit is critical to preserve incentives for financially qualified buyers to enter the market," Yun said.
According to NAR figures, total housing inventory at the end of August fell 10.8 percent to 3.62 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.5-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 9.3-month supply in July. Unsold inventory totals are 16.4 percent lower than a year ago.
The national average existing-home price for all housing types was 177,700 dollars in August, down 12.5 percent from August 2008.Distressed properties continue to downwardly distort the average price because they generally sell for 15 to 20 percent less than traditional homes.