After reaching a two-year high in the previous month, existing home sales in the U.S. showed a modest pullback in the month of September, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Friday.
NAR said existing home sales fell 1.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.75 million in September from an upwardly revised 4.83 million in August. Economists had expected existing home sales to fall to 4.75 million from the 4.82 million originally reported for the previous month. The median sales price for September was $183,900, up 11.3% from $165,300 a year earlier. That was the biggest annual gain since November 2005.         At the end of September, meanwhile, the inventory of previously owned homes listed for sale fell to 2.32 million. That represented a 5.9-month supply at the current sales pace. It was the time the inventory of homes on the market fell below six months since March 2006.