Having ascended 7.0 percent in September, the seasonally adjusted pace of existing-home sales across the U.S. inched up 0.8 percent in October to an annual rate of 6.34 million sales. But sales were down 5.8 percent on a year-over-year basis, representing the third straight month of year-over-year declines, the magnitude of which has been ticking up, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
At the same time, listed inventory levels inched down 0.8 percent last month to 1.25 million homes, representing 12.0 percent fewer existing-homes on the market than there were at the same time last year while the inventory of new homes on the market is up over 30 percent to a 13-year high and purchase mortgage activity, which is a leading indicator, has dropped.
The median existing-home sale price inched up 0.3 percent from September ($352,800) to October ($353,900) and was 13.1 percent higher than it was at the same time last year ($313,000), driven by a dramatic change in the mix of what has sold over the past year and having ticked down 2.4 percent from a peak of $362,800 in June.
