US existing home sales fall a tad less quickly than expected in October

Sales of second hand homes in the US declined a tad less quickly than anticipated last month, although higher mortgage rates meant that more potential buyers were being squeezed out.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the annual rate of existing home sales fell at a month-on-month pace of 5.9% to reach 4.43m (consensus: 4.35m).

In comparison to a year ago they were down by 28.4%.

"More potential homebuyers were squeezed out from qualifying for a mortgage in October as mortgage rates climbed higher," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.

"The impact is greater in expensive areas of the country and in markets that witnessed significant home price gains in recent years."

The pipeline of unsold existing homes available for sale fell for a third month in a row, reaching 1.22m units, or the equivalent of 3.3 months' worth of sales at the current pace.

During the previous month, the inventory of homes had stood at 3.1 months and one year earlier at 2.4 months.

The median price of an existing home meanwhile was ahead by 6.6% year-on-year at $379,100.

Nonetheless, still reduced inventory continued to lead to some homes fetching multiple bids with about 24% of homes being bid above the asking price.

And 64% of properties sold had been on the market for under a month.