It's the Inventory

....not "sales."

The fall in [existing home] sales pushed the inventory of unsold homes to a record 4.58 million in August. That means it would take 10 months to exhaust the inventory of homes on the market at the August sales pace, also a record figure

The previous record inventory was around 8 months' supply, except in the early 1980's/late 1970's, when it was almost 12 months.