Existing Home Sales Decline for First Time in Three Months

Existing home sales declined 1.9% in September, which was the first decline in three months, the National Association of Realtors said Oct. 21.

Sales fell to an annual rate of 5.29 million, following August’s downwardly revised 5.39 million.

The September level was slightly lower than economists’ median forecast of a drop to 5.3 million , Bloomberg News reported.

Higher borrowing costs will most likely hinder the market, slowing housing demand, which has been a source of strength for the economy, Bloomberg reported.

“We should see a series of weak numbers on existing home sales, but it’s nothing dramatic. Housing will remain an OK sector, a good sector, for the economy. It’s just that we’ll not see any acceleration,” Yelena Shulyatyeva, U.S. economist at BNP Paribas, told Bloomberg.

Data from August was revised from 5.48 million. The change was larger than normal due to the previous month’s data being released earlier than usual before additional information was available, according to the National Association of Realtors.