EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Home Sales on Track for Worst Year Since 1995.

Sales of existing homes in the U.S. are on track for the worst year since 1995—for the second year in a row.

Persistently high home prices and elevated mortgage rates are keeping potential home buyers on the sidelines. Sales of previously owned homes in the first nine months of the year were lower than the same period last year, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

Existing-home sales in September fell 1% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million, NAR said, the lowest monthly rate since October 2010. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had estimated a monthly decrease of 0.5%.

September sales fell 3.5% from a year earlier.

After a sluggish 2023, economists and real-estate executives widely expected activity to pick up in 2024.

Based on what, exactly?

Buying a home, like having a baby, is a Yea vote on the future — and Americans aren’t doing much of either lately.