US existing home sales decline for ninth month

Existing-home sales fell 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million in October, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. Compared with October 2021, home sales were down 28.4%.

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected an decrease to 4.37 million units. Sales of previously owned homes dropped 5.9% from September to October, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is the slowest pace since December 2011, with the exception of a very brief drop at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The October reading put sales at a seasonally adjusted, annualized pace of 4.43 million units. Sales were 28.4% lower year-over-year.

Even as sales slow, supply is still stubbornly low. There were 1.22 million homes for sale at the end of October, an decrease of just under 1% both month-to-month and year-over-year. That’s a 3.3-month supply at the current sales pace. Historically, a balanced market is considered to be a six-month supply.