WASHINGTON — Existing home sales fell 1.9% to a seasonally adjusted 5.29 million-unit rate in September from a revised 5.39 million pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Monday.
The August sales rate was originally reported as a 5.48 million unit rate.
The September sales rate was weaker than the median estimate of economists polled by Thomson Reuters, who predicted a 5.320 million rate.
The rate is a 10.7% increase from September 2012. The sales rate has now been above the previous year levels for 27 months, but the year-over-year increase was the slowest it has been in 5 months, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said.
Sales decreased 2.8% in the Northeast, 5.3% in the Midwest and 1.4% in the South. They increased 1.6% in the West.
The median sales price stood at $199,200 in September, a 5.01% decline from the previous month and an11.7% increase from a year ago.
Housing inventory levels were unchanged from the previous month at 2.21 million existing homes, representing a 5.0-month supply at the current pace. Inventory was up 1.8% from the September 2012 level, when it was a 4.9-month supply. Inventory was up on a year-over-year basis for the first time in 2½ years, Yun said.
