October Existing Home Sales: -5.9% to 4.43M vs. 4.38M consensus and 4.71M in September. That's the ninth straight month of declines as higher mortgage rates kept prospective homebuyers inactive.
The median existing home sales price of $379.1K increased 6.6% from a year earlier.
“More potential homebuyers were squeezed out from qualifying for a mortgage in October as mortgage rates climbed higher,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. He added that expensive areas of the U.S. were impacted the most.
Inventory of unsold existing homes came in at 1.22M units, down 0.8% from both September and a year before. That's equivalent to 3.3 months' supply at the current sales pace, up from 3.1 months in September and 2.4 months in October.
“Inventory levels are still tight, which is why some homes for sale are still receiving multiple offers,” Yun added. “In October, 24% of homes received over the asking price. Conversely, homes sitting on the market for more than 120 days saw prices reduced by an average of 15.8%.”
Earlier this week, (Nov. 17) housing starts, building permits fall less than expected in October.