US existing-home sales drop for 3rd month THE number of people who bought existing US homes in November declined for the third straight month. Higher mortgage rates have made home-buying more expensive, while the lingering impact of the October government shutdown may have deterred some sales. The National Association of Realtors said home sales fell 4.3 per cent to an annual rate of 4.90 million. That's the weakest pace since December 2012, and the first time since April that the pace has slipped below 5 million. Still, the association projects that total sales this year will be 5.1 million. That would be the strongest since 2007, when the US housing bubble burst. The median sales price of an existing home was $US196,300 ($A222,350) in November, a slight decrease from October but 9.4 per cent higher than a year ago.