U
S home sales slowed significantly in September, with the annual pace hitting its weakest point in nearly 14 years. Existing home sales declined by 1% from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. This marks the slowest annual sales pace since October 2010, when the housing market was still recovering from the late-2000s real estate crash.

    Sales fell short of economists' expectations, which were at 3.9 million, and declined by 3.5% compared to September last year. Despite this slowdown, home prices continued to rise for the 15th consecutive month, with a national median sales price increase of 3% from the previous year to $404,500.

    The inventory of homes for sale has been steadily increasing, reaching 1.39 million at the end of September, up 23% from last year and translating to a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace. This is higher than the 3.4-month supply seen in September last year and still below the traditional balanced market threshold of 5-6 months.

    The US housing market has been experiencing a sales slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to rise from pandemic-era lows. Although mortgage rates have eased somewhat since July, reaching their lowest average in two years, they've recently edged higher, with an average rate of 6.44% last week.