Pending home sales fell in October to the lowest since at least 2001, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported on Thursday, with potential buyers stymied by high mortgage rates and weakened affordability. Contracts to buy existing homes fell 1.5% in October to 71.4 from a revised 72.5 the month prior, according to the National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 2% decrease. On an annual basis, it dropped 8.5%. Contracts on existing homes fell by the most in the West and South on a monthly basis. Contracts signed rose by 2.7% in the Northeast, the only region to experience a month-over-month increase. “During October, mortgage rates were at their highest, and contract signings for existing homes were at their lowest in more than 20 years,” explained NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Recent weeks’ successive declines in mortgage rates will help qualify more home buyers, but limited housing inventory is significantly preventing housing demand from fully being satisfied”.