Yahoo Finance

Existing home sales fall for 9th straight month in October

Dani Romero · Reporter
Fri, November 18, 2022 at 10:00 AM

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell for the ninth consecutive month in October, underscoring how elevated mortgage rates are sapping the housing market. All four major U.S. regions registered month-over-month and year-over-year declines.

Sales of previously owned homes declined 5.9% in October from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. That was slightly better than the 6.6% month-over-month decline economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated. ... Overall, sales were down 28.4% year over year.

The figures again show that the market’s abrupt slowdown that started earlier this year continues as the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy to help reduce inflation, which is also boosting mortgage rates. The sharp increase in interest rates has upended home purchases as more would-be buyers get pushed out of the market.

“More potential homebuyers were squeezed out from qualifying for a mortgage in October as mortgage rates climbed higher,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “The impact is greater in expensive areas of the country and in markets that witnessed significant home price gains in recent years.”

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