October 24, 2007 (LPAC)--Existing-home sales in September fell 8.0% from August, to an annualized rate of 5.04 million units, as cancellations rose on higher-priced "jumbo" mortgage loans.

This was the lowest sales pace since the National Association of Realtors began compiling data on both single-family and condo sales jointly in 1999. As a result, the inventory of unsold homes rose to a record-high 10.5-month supply, the trade association reported.

Worse, the national median price for both single-family and condos fell 4.2%--more than twice the largest year-to-year drop so far--to $211,700, down 4.2% from September 2006. Falling prices mean homeowners facing delinquency, default or foreclosure, lack the option to refinance their mortgages.