US home sales fell in September for eighth straight month

By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in September for the eighth month in a row, matching the pre-pandemic sales pace from 10 years ago, as house hunters grappled with sharply higher mortgage rates, rising home prices and a still tight supply of properties on the market. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that existing home sales fell 1.5% last month from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.71 million. That’s slightly higher than what economists were expecting, according to FactSet. Sales fell nearly 24% from September last year. The national median home price rose 8.4% in September from a year earlier to $384,800.