Existing Home Sales Fall To Eight Year Low

Washington, DC, October 24, 2007--Sales of existing homes fell 8% in September to the lowest level in at least eight years, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

Sales of existing homes and condos fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million, the lowest since 1999.

Sales of existing homes were down 19.1% nationwide in September compared to a year ago.

Sales in September were slowed by credit problems, said Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist.

Inventories of unsold homes and condos rose to a 10.5-month supply, the largest in at least eight years.

For single-family homes, sales fell 8.6% in September to an annual rate of 4.38 million, the lowest rate since January 1998.

Inventories of unsold single-family homes represented a 10.2 month supply, the largest inventory in relation to sales in nearly 20 years.

The median sales price for homes and condos was off 4.2% in the past year and have dropped in 13 of the past 14 months.

A decline in jumbo mortgage lending resulted in the lower sales prices.

However, Yun said that mortgage availability has improved in recent weeks and interest rates on jumbo loans are falling.