Markets
US Home Sales Sank to 3.75 Million, Lowest Since 2010
US existing-home sales fell 5.5% in October 2026 to an annual pace of 3.75 million, the slowest since August 2010, the National Association of Realtors said.
Fewer Americans bought a previously owned home in October than in any month for more than 16 years. The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday, November 12, that existing-home sales fell 5.5% from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.75 million, 8.8% below a year earlier and the slowest pace since August 2010. That was well below economists' forecasts, which ranged from about 3.86 million to 3.98 million. The figure counts closings, so it mostly reflects contracts signed in August and September.
The explanation was the price of money. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said mortgage rates "have climbed to their highest levels since 2000, aside from a single month in 2023." The Mortgage Bankers Association put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.30% last week, and on Thursday afternoon the 10-year Treasury yield, which mortgage rates loosely track, was back above 5%. "It's dark out there with no homebuyers anywhere to be found," Chris Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, told CNBC.
Supply is going the other way. There were 1.59 million homes for sale at the end of October, 4.6% more than a year earlier, equal to 5.1 months of supply at the current sales pace. That is up from 4.7 months in September and the highest since November 2015, according to Calculated Risk; NAR treats four to six months as a balanced market. Prices have barely reacted so far. The median sale price was $416,700, still 0.4% higher than in October 2025 a gain well below the rate of inflation.
This is the lock-in effect in reverse. For three years, owners with cheap pandemic-era mortgages refused to sell, which kept listings scarce and prices high even as sales fell. Now listings are rising while buyers retreat, so the balance of power is slowly moving toward buyers.
Readers of these reports should keep an eye on months of supply more than on the sales count. Sales can stay low for years, as they did after 2008, but when supply runs above six months prices usually start to fall in nominal terms. At 5.1 months, the US is not there yet. Pending home sales, which track signed contracts and lead closings by a month or two, are due later in November and will show whether October was the floor.