Home Sales Drop Fifth Straight Month

Sales of existing homes dropped for a fifth straight month in October as housing demand, one of the stars of this economic expansion, showed further signs of slowing.

The National Association of Realtors said that resales of singlefamily homes dipped 1.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted 3.97 million units.

Private economists said the decrease provided further evidence that the economy was slowing from its sizzling springtime pace. But in its latest quarterly outlook, the nation’s business economists said there appeared to be no danger that the slowdown could weaken into a recession.

In fact, the National Association of Business Economists survey predicted that the performance over the next five years should look much like the past five years - moderate growth averaging 2.5 percent and inflation just under 2.9 percent.

For October, sales of existing homes suffered their biggest drop in the South, a decline of 5.8 percent. Sales also fell 1 percent in the Midwest.

Sales were up 10.3 percent in the Northeast and rose by 3.5 percent in the West.