U.S. Existing-Home Sales Slid Last Year as Interest Rates Surged

By Nicole Friedman

U.S. existing home sales fell last year to their lowest level since 2014, as surging mortgage rates made home purchases too expensive for many buyers.

Sales of previously owned homes, which make up most of the housing market, slid 17.8% in 2022 from the prior year to 5.03 million, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. On a monthly basis, sales fell 1.5% in December from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million, the weakest rate since November 2010. December sales fell 34% from a year earlier.

December marked the 11th straight monthly decrease, the longest streak of declines on record in data going back to 1999, NAR said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-20-23 1019ET