Washington, Nov 12 (IANS) Sales of previously owned homes in the United States fell to their lowest level in more than 16 years in October as elevated mortgage rates squeezed buyers, while prices continued to rise despite the slowdown, according to data released on Thursday.
Existing-home sales dropped 5.5 per cent from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.75 million, the National Association of Realtors said. Sales were down 8.8 per cent from October last year.
The figures highlighted a widening gap between weak transaction activity and resilient property prices. The national median existing-home price rose 0.4 per cent from a year earlier to $416,700, marking the 40th consecutive month of annual price increases.
“Home buying is difficult when mortgage rates have climbed to their highest levels since 2000, aside from a single month in 2023. As a result, home sales fell to their lowest level since August 2010,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said.
The slowdown extended across much of the country. Sales declined month on month in the Midwest, South and West, while remaining unchanged in the Northeast. All four regions recorded declines compared with October last year.
The supply of unsold homes increased as transactions slowed. Total housing inventory reached 1.59 million units, up 1.3 per cent from September and 4.6 per cent from a year earlier.
At October’s sales pace, that inventory represented a 5.1-month supply, compared with 4.7 months in September and 4.4 months in October 2025.
However, the increase in available homes did not translate into a nationwide decline in the median price. October’s median of $416,700, compared with $414,900 a year earlier.
Yun said existing homeowners generally remained in a stronger financial position than the weak sales figures might suggest.
“Despite fewer transactions in October, the 88 million homeowners across the country are largely in a comfortable financial position due to sizable housing wealth accumulation. The number of distressed property sales remains historically low at only 2 per cent of all transactions,” he said.
“Based on the current underwhelming home sales pace at a time of consistent job growth, there could be sizable pent-up demand if mortgage rates decline.”
Affordability weakened across all four regions compared with a year earlier. NAR’s Housing Affordability Index stood at 100.7, down from 107.3 in October 2025.
The Northeast recorded the largest annual deterioration in affordability, at 8.7 per cent. It was followed by the Midwest at 7.2 per cent, the South at 5.4 per cent and the West at 5.2 per cent.
Single-family home sales fell 5.8 per cent from September to an annualised rate of 3.41 million. They were 8.6 per cent below their year-earlier level. The median single-family home price increased 0.4 per cent to $421,900.
Condominium and co-operative sales also weakened, dropping 2.9 per cent month on month to an annualised rate of 340,000. Sales in that category were down 10.5 per cent from October last year, while the median price edged up 0.3 per cent to $365,100.
–IANS
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