U.S. Existing-Home Sales Fall 5.5% to Slowest Pace Since August 2010
Key Facts
U.S. existing-home sales fell 5.5% in October from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.75 million units, the slowest pace since August 2010. The Associated Press, citing data from the National Association of Realtors, said the decline reflected continued weakness in the housing market, with sales remaining below an annual rate of 4 million units for a third consecutive month. The pace was below economists’ forecast of an annual rate of 3.8 million units, the AP said. Year over year, sales fell 8.8% from October 2025. The last time the annualized pace was similar was August 2010, in the aftermath of the housing-market collapse in the late 2000s.
October’s performance came amid a stretch in which sales activity has remained near an annual pace of 4 million homes since 2023, according to the Associated Press, well below the historical average of about 5.2 million. Sales remaining below 4 million indicates that weak demand was not limited to a single month, as the pace stayed below that level for three consecutive months through October. The year-over-year comparison also shows a widening decline from last year, with sales down 8.8% from October 2025. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said, "The market is tough for buyers and sellers." The assessment puts the challenges facing both sides in the same context, as transaction volumes shrink and purchase costs remain high.
Available supply for buyers, meanwhile, expanded: unsold homes totaled 1.59 million at the end of October, the highest level since November 2019, according to the Associated Press. Inventory rose 1.3% from September and 4.6% from October last year. That inventory represented a 5.1-month supply at the current sales pace, the longest period since November 2015. The combination of falling sales and rising inventory means buyers now have more options than were available in recent periods. But the broader selection has not been accompanied by a decline in average prices, keeping the burden of buying in place.
The median price of existing homes rose 0.4% year over year in October to $416,700, the highest median on record for an October in data going back to 1999, according to the Associated Press. Prices recorded an annual increase for the 40th consecutive month, even as the annual sales pace reached its lowest level since August 2010. Continued price gains underscore the contrast between improving supply and weak demand on one hand, and the persistently high cost of buying a home on the other. The increase in available homes alone does not indicate a reversal in price trends, as October’s median remained above its level a year earlier. The data come in a market Yun described as tough for buyers and sellers.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate had reached 7.4% in early October and remained above 7% since then, according to the Associated Press. The agency said that level was the highest reading in nearly three years, while Freddie Mac’s survey recorded an average of 7.40% on October 8 and October 15. Higher financing costs coincided with a decline in the sales pace, while average prices remained above their year-earlier level. The combination of these factors limits the effect of rising inventory on home-buying affordability, even as supply has expanded compared with previous months. The cited rate figures apply to early and mid-October, not to a measurement dated in November.
Among the next economic releases in the table, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics had scheduled the October Producer Price Index for release on November 13, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. The report for the November index was scheduled for December 15, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. The schedule places the October release on its planned date of November 13, while the November release remains tied to a December date. The release dates follow the publication of October home-sales data, adding a new reading to the series of U.S. economic data. The next report in the release schedule was the October report, not the November report.