Breaking: US existing home sales fall to lowest level since 2010

Some Good News: Overall Prices Rose 3.0% for Existing Inventory

NAR said existing home sales slid by 1.0 percent to an annual rate of 3.84 million in September after tumbling by 2.0 percent to a revised rate of 3.88 million in August.

Sales of previously built homes in the US declined to the lowest level in 14 years in September as elevated mortgage rates and the uncertainty around the US election pressure demand.

According to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, "Home sales have been essentially stuck at around a four-million-unit pace for the past 12 months, but factors usually associated with higher home sales are developing. There are more inventory choices for consumers, lower mortgage rates than a year ago and continued job additions to the economy." NAR

Existing home sales decreased 1 per cent on a monthly basis in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 3.84mn, the National Association of Realtors released on Wednesday. That fell below analysts’ forecasts for an annual rate of about 3.86mn.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said factors typically associated with higher existing home sales have emerged, meaning sales could rally from their roughly 4mn unit pace of the past 12 months.

“There are more inventory choices for consumers, lower mortgage rates than a year ago and continued job additions to the economy,” Yun said, but cautioned it was possible some consumers were hesitant to purchase a home before the election.

Some good news: overall prices rose 3.0% for existing inventory.