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August was not a strong month for home sales in the Fayetteville market.

About 440 homes closed during the month, down from 566 homes in July and 618 closings in August 2008, according to data tracked by the Multiple Listing Service for the Fayetteville Regional Association of Realtors.

"I was beginning to think things were looking pretty good," said Bob Measamer, owner of McLean Real Estate, reflecting on house-hunting he saw in June and July.

But the vibe changed. By the end of July, Measamer knew that August would not be particularly pleasant.

"Interest rates are good. They should be buying houses," he said. "It's hard to really put your finger on what's going on."

It's likely a mix of several contributors, said Larry Strother, president and owner of LWS Homes and chairman and owner of ERA Strother Real Estate.

Year-over-year sales in June were down roughly 17 percent, according to MLS data. The decline in July was about 15 percent from a year earlier. But in August, sales dropped more than 28 percent compared with the same month in 2008, though a few more closings may still trickle in to the MLS.

Strother said one factor in the relative strength of June and July was troops hustling to buy homes before deploying this summer, though not all his peers agree. Some soldiers were looking to get their families settled in before heading overseas, he said.

"If they were going to do that, they would have needed to have bought in May or June," Strother said.

Cheryl Spears of Spears and Walsh Real Estate said uncertainty over the length of military assignments is holding back some buyers.

"I just had a lieutenant colonel in here this morning who is leasing a rather expensive piece of property," she said. "They would really like to purchase. They've been here before. But they're being advised not to purchase. ... I'm hearing that a lot from the military. It doesn't matter the rank."

David Evans, president-elect of the Realtor association, said the strength of June and July is partly reflected in August's slump.

"Basically, that meant that we'd depleted the demand," Evans said. "We've been sort of seesawing back and forth. But our 12-month rolling average is still only about 130 houses behind last year."

In terms of closings, new homes did better than existing homes in August. The MLS figures show 147 new homes sold in August, compared with 174 a year earlier.

For existing homes, closings dropped from 444 in August 2008 to 293 last month.

"With the price drops in new construction? That existing home market is being hammered," Evans said. "No question."

The average price of new homes fell from $212,611 in July to $198,277 in August, according to MLS data.

The average price of existing homes sold in August was $137,385, up from $132,766 in August 2008.

Home builders are having to give far more than they typically would to clear out excess inventory, Spears said. Be it a builder's offer to pay $6,000 in closing costs or to finish a bonus room, she said, there are some attractive carrots moving buyers to look at new homes instead of existing ones.

Based on inquiries that Measamer has gotten recently, he's hoping for a boost in October from a small group of BRAC-related newcomers.

"If I don't see that, I'm going to be disappointed," he said.

November is the deadline for buyers to complete their purchases to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit of up to $8,000. Strother said the incentive has brought some buyers to the market, but it hasn't been what he expected.

"I think now that it's ending, there is a chance some people will say, 'We'd better take advantage of this or we're going to lose it.' We may see a little spurt out of that," Strother said. "But if we're going to see it, we're going to have to see it in the next 30 days."