Sales of previously owned homes fell in January for the 12th consecutive month, to their lowest level since October of 2010, as high prices and mortgage rates continued to lim🌳it housing affordaꦓbility. 

 dipped 0.7% last month to an annual rate of 4 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Tuesday. Al꧋though that was a slower drop than in December, economists 🍬had been anticipating an increase.

The NAR noted the median price for an existing home increased 1.3% to $359,000, and according to Freddie Mac, the average rate on a fixed-rate, 30-year 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:conforming home loan (u🎐p to $726,200) was 6.32% last week, up from 6.12% the week before and 3.92% a year earlier. 

Home sales are “bottoming out,” with prices varying depending on each market’s affordability, said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. He noted lower-priced regions are experiencing modest growth while more exp🔯ensive ones are seeing declines.

Increased Inventory

Yun added that some good news for potential buyers is that total housing inventory at the end of January was 980,000 units, a gain of 2.1% from December. He explained that while the number of houses available remains low, buyers ar😼e starting to have better negotiating power. Yun indicated that homes on the market for more than two months can be purchased for about 10% less than the original list price.