The share of home sales in the $200,000-and-below price range is down 9 percent from a year ago, while those above $200,000 have increased 10 percent in the same time period, according to the latest housing report from RealtyTrac, which reflects August housing data.

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Broken down further, the share of sales between $500,000 and $1 million rose 18 percent from year-ago levels, and the share of sales higher than $1 million jumped 38 percent year-over-year.

Overall, RealtyTrac's report shows that the share of sales above $500,000 rose 23 percent from a year ago.

"Higher-end properties are taking up a bigger share of a smaller home-sales pie, boosting the median home price nationwide higher, even as home-price appreciation slows to single digits in many of last year's red-hot local housing markets," says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "On the other hand, markets where large institutional investors and other buyers have not picked clean lower-priced inventory are continuing to see strong, double-digit increases in median home prices."

The housing market's overall appreciation slowed in 63 percent of all major markets compared to a year ago, RealtyTrac's report shows.

However, the median price of a residential home sold in August — including both distressed and non-distressed sales — was $195,000, up 15 percent from a year ago to the highest level since August 2008.

Source: Realty Trac