Existing home sales down 21%

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

News item: ‘Sales of existing homes fell for an eighth straight month in October even as more properties came on the U.S. housing market, driving the supply of homes up for sale to the highest level in 22 years, the National Assn. of Realtors reported Wednesday.’

More, from Marketwatch: ‘Seasonally adjusted sales dropped 1.2% to an annualized pace of 4.97 million last month, the real-estate advocacy group said. The sales pace stands at the lowest seen since 1999, when the group began tracking combined sales of single-family homes and condominiums.’

More, from the NAR news release:

--Existing home sales in October were down 20.7% from 2006 levels.

--Total inventory of unsold existing homes rose 1.9 percent at the end of October to 4.45 million existing homes for sale, which represents a 10.8-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 10.4-month supply in September.

--From Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist: “As noted last month, temporary mortgage problems were peaking back in August when many of the sales closed in October were being negotiated. We continue to see the biggest impact in high-cost markets that rely on jumbo loans,” he said. “Mortgage availability has improved as evidenced by much lower mortgage interest rates and a sharp jump in FHA endorsements for home purchases.

Thoughts? Comments? Email story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.