• September existing-home sales fell 2.2% from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.38 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. They’re up 3.9% from a year ago.
• The median price for an existing home was $272,100, down 2.4% from August but up 5.9% from a year earlier. September marked the 91st straight month of year-over-year price gains in home prices.
• Inventory was flat from August at 1.83 million and down 2.7% from September 2018.

It’s been a bumpy ride for home sales in 2019, and this slight decrease for September is more of the same. Much of the sales boost this summer can be chalked up to interest rates dragging along the bottom this year, which enticed more would-be buyers into the market. Now sales are coming back to earth, largely because of an ongoing shortage of inventory. There simply are not enough lower-priced homes to keep the market humming. While builders are putting up more homes, their pace is not keeping up with what buyers demand.