By — Stephanie Sy Stephanie Sy By — Karina Cuevas Karina Cuevas Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/increasing-cost-of-housing-squeezes-americans-out-of-market Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Audio Sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell last month to their lowest level in more than 16 years. That's according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors. In October alone, sales dropped to 3.75 million homes, an 8.8% drop compared with the same time last year. Stephanie Sy reports on what's driving the decline. Listen to this Segment By — Stephanie Sy Stephanie Sy Stephanie Sy is a PBS News Hour correspondent. Throughout her career, she served in anchor and correspondent capacities for ABC News, Al Jazeera America, CBSN, CNN International, and PBS News Hour Weekend. Prior to joining News Hour, she was with Yahoo News where she anchored coverage of the 2018 Midterm Elections and reported from Donald Trump’s victory party on Election Day 2016. By — Karina Cuevas Karina Cuevas
Increasing cost of housing squeezes Americans out of market
In short
Prospective buyers across the United States are facing severe affordability hurdles as property transactions fall to depths not seen in over a decade and a half. Sales of existing homes fell sharply to an annualized pace of 3.75 million units in October. This marked an 8.8% decline from the same timeframe last year, according to data released by the National Association of Realtors. The retreat demonstrates how climbing living costs continue to restrict everyday consumers from participating in real estate transactions.
Key points
- Data published by the National Association of Realtors confirms a multi-decade low in hou…: Data published by the National Association of Realtors confirms a multi-decade low in housing activity.
- The escalating cost of acquiring property continues to push regular Americans entirely ou…: The escalating cost of acquiring property continues to push regular Americans entirely out of the market.
- Year-over-year sales figures show a steep downward slide that severely hampers residentia…: Year-over-year sales figures show a steep downward slide that severely hampers residential property transactions across the nation.