Existing home sales plummet for ninth straight month in October

Existing home sales in the United States fell for the ninth straight month in October as higher mortgage rates kept buyers out of the housing market. 

Previously owned home sales declined 5.9% in October prior to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the National Association of Realtors, October sales fell 28.4%.

The decline in sales has resulted from the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest-rate increases which aimed to bring down high inflation.