Sales of existing U.S. homes, including single-family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 8 percent in September, a realtors group said Wednesday.

Mortgage availability is improving but hampered September sales of existing homes and distorted prices on sales that closed, the National Association of Realtors said in its report.

Total existing-home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in September from a revised figure of 5.48 million in August, the NAR said. The figure is 19.1 percent below 6.23 million in September 2006.

The median existing-home price for all housing types was $211,700 in September, down 4.2 percent from September 2006, when the median was $220,900, the association said.

Total housing inventory crept up 0.4 percent in September to 4.40 million existing homes available for sale, representing a 10 1/2-month supply, NAR said.

“It appears raw inventories are stabilizing, but the housing supply is a bit inflated now because the sales pace does not reflect underlying market conditions -- sales were dampened by the mortgage cancellations,” Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economi st, said. “Once the pent-up demand begins to move, we’ll see housing supplies begin to ease and then prices will edge up.” // Copyright 2007 by United Press International




Publication date: 24 October 2007   

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