Existing home sales decreased 8.6% in November to a seasonally adjusted 4.49 million-unit rate, the National Association of Realtors announced Tuesday.
The sales drop to 4.49 million, compared to the 4.90 million unit pace predicted by Thomson Reuters’ poll of economists followed a revised 4.5% drop to a 4.91 million unit level in October, originally reported as a 3.1% slide to 4.98 million units.
On a year-over-year basis, sales overall were down 10.6% from a 5.14 million unit sales pace last November.
“The quickly deteriorating conditions in the job market, stock market, and consumer confidence in October and November have knocked down home sales to another level,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist. “We hope the home sales impact from the stock market crash turns out to be short-lived, as was the case in 1987 and 2001.”
Sales fell in all four regions of the country in November, decreasing 7.4% in the Midwest, 10.9% in the South, 4.3% in the West, and 12.0% in the Northeast.
Inventory levels rose 0.1% at the end of November, to 4.203 million existing homes for sale, representing an 11.2-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 10.3 months last month.
Meanwhile, the median existing home price was $181,300 in November, down 2.8% from October, when the median price was $186,500, and slid 13.2% year-over-year from a $208,800 level.
The average existing home price was $224,200 in November, off 2.4% from October, when the average price was $229,700, and dipped 12.3% year-over-year from a $255,700 level.
The national average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.09%, down from October’s 6.20%, NAR said. The rate was 6.21% in November 2007.
