Existing home sales fall 5.5% in October to their slowest pace in 16 years

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell 5.5% in October to their slowest pace since Aug. 2010, as mortgage rates above 7% kept buyers away.

On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors put sales at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 3.75M homes, below estimates. (Economists polled by Reuters had expected 3.85M.) Sales were 8.8% lower YoY.

The report counts sales when they close, so October's total mostly reflects deals agreed in August and September. That is when the 30-year mortgage rate moved above 7%, reaching 7.40% by mid-September in Freddie Mac's survey.

Lawrence Yun, the association's chief economist, said, "Home buying is difficult when mortgage rates have climbed to their highest levels since 2000, aside from a single month in 2023."

The annual pace has now been under 4M for 3 straight months, and it has stayed near that level since 2023. The historical average is about 5.2M.

The slowdown reached most of the country:

• Sales fell in the West, South and Midwest, holding steady only in the Northeast.
• The share of first-time buyers slipped to 29%, down from 31% in September.
• At October's pace, the homes on the market would take 5.1 months to sell, the longest pace since Nov. 2015.
• The median price still rose 0.4% YoY, its 40th straight annual gain.

Mortgage rates have eased since September, but not by much. Freddie Mac's 30-year average was 7.18% on November 5. Rates then jumped on Tuesday after a hotter-than-expected inflation report.

Freddie Mac's next weekly reading is due at noon ET on Thursday. The 10-year Treasury yield, which mortgage rates tend to follow, rose to 5.07% as of 10:16 a.m. ET.

Sources & Further Reading

1. "Existing-Home Sales Decreased 5.5% in October, According to NAR Report." National Association of Realtors. November 12, 2026.
2. "US existing home sales slump to more than 16-year low in October." Reuters. November 12, 2026.
3. "US home sales slumped in October to slowest pace in more than 16 years as mortgage rates surged." Associated Press. November 12, 2026.
4. "Primary Mortgage Market Survey." Freddie Mac. November 5, 2026.
5. "Mortgage rates jump to 7.30%, ending four weeks of declines." Stock Analysis. November 11, 2026.