Sales of existing homes fell 5.9% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million, the National Association of Realtors estimated. It was the ninth consecutive month of existing home sales declines. Compared with October 2021, existing home sales plunged 28.4%.
“More potential homebuyers were squeezed out from qualifying for a mortgage in October as mortgage rates climbed higher,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “The impact is greater in expensive areas of the country and in markets that witnessed significant home price gains in recent years.”
The median existing home sale price was $379,100 in October, a 6.6% surge year-over-year.
Regionally, existing home sales fell 6.6% in the Northeast, 5.3% in the Midwest, 4.8% in the South and 9.1% in the West.
The full NAR report can be found here.
