U.S. home sales drop for another month, hitting nearly one year's worth of declines

Existing home sales dropped for the eleventh straight month in December, recording nearly a full year's worth of declines as the once-hot housing market continues to cool off. 

Home sales "decreased 1.5% from November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million in December," the National Association of Realtors said in a Friday report. 

The year-over-year decline was 34%, the NAR said, a drop "from 6.09 million in December 2021."

The cool-off was likely driven in no small part by rising mortgage rates, with the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes hitting the housing industry hard after several years of nonstop sales in a lopsided seller's market. 

December was another difficult month for buyers, who continue to face limited inventory and high mortgage rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in the report.

“However, expect sales to pick up again soon since mortgage rates have markedly declined after peaking late last year," he added.