Sawt Falasteen - US home sales dip for 10th straight month in 'frozen' market

The US real estate sector -- an interest-sensitive area -- has been reeling after the central bank raised the benchmark lending rate multiple times this year to dampen soaring inflation and cool the world's biggest economy.

The rapid rate hikes have sent borrowing costs higher, in turn weighing on the country's key housing market.

Last month, sales of all types of homes and condos dropped 7.7 percent from October, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said in its latest report.

This brought the sales pace to an annual rate of 4.1 million in November, seasonally adjusted, down 35.4 percent from a year ago, the association said.

"In essence, the residential real estate market was frozen... resembling the sales activity seen during the Covid-19 economic lockdowns in 2020," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in a statement.

The main reason was a quick spike in mortgage rates, battering affordability for homebuyers and lowering homeowners' incentives to list their properties, he said.

The popular option of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.3 percent as of mid-December, according to home loan finance company Freddie Mac, nearly double the rate a year ago.

Available housing inventory also "remains near historic lows," said Yun.

But mortgage rates have been falling for five straight weeks, suggesting the market may be thawing, Yun said.

The median home price across housing types was $370,700 last month, still 3.5 percent above the same period in 2021, NAR data showed.

And all four major regions in the country recorded declines in sales.

Existing home sales make up 90 percent of the US real estate market.

S.AbuJamous--SF-PST