WASHINGTON —

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Nationwide sales of existing homes fell more than expected last month, as economic fears made buyers leery even though prices plunged to the lowest suit in more than four years. And the decline is expected to get worse for the cause that October’s results reflect sales contracts signed before Wall Street’sitting nosedive.

The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that sales of existing homes fell 3.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted lasting a year rate of 4.98 million units in October, from a downwardly revised pace of 5.14 million in September. Sales had been expected to fall to a rate of 5.05 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Sales nationwide - without adjusting for seasonal factors - slipped less than 1 percent in October from a year ago. The median sales price plunged 11.3 percent from a year ago to $183,000. That was the largest year-over-year drop on records going back to 1968, and the lowest median sales price since March 2004.

“If household prices overshoot downward, then it can guidance to collateral damage to the economy,” related Lawrence Yun, headmost economist at the Realtors group. The cost, he added, would be “very reasonable” compared with the billions the sway is spending to rescue major banks.

To help stabilize home prices, the Realtors group is walk of life on lawmakers and the administration of President-elect Barack Obama to spend $50 billion to supply by a subsidy lower pledge rates, projecting that doing so would stimulate about 500,000 other home sales.

Since October’s sales reflect contracts signed in August and September, sales could well fall further amid the fallout from the late stock market dive and sinking frugality.

Evelyn Krazer, sales manager with Johnson Realty in St. Louis, declared sales mode of action has slowed down to “practically nothing” in recent weeks.

“Everybody’s apprehensive of losing their job,” she said. “People who are thinking about affecting are holding off.”

Global Insight economist Patrick Newport expects sales to fall next month, possibly to the lowest punctilio of the U.S. housing market bust. More Americans are impelling in with relatives from losing their homes to foreclosure, he said, as the economy sinks and lenders tighten their standards.

Lenders “are trying to protect themselves by holding cash,” Newport said.

Still, other economists are encouraged that sales did not fall below June’sitting sales rate of 4.85 million, the lowest point of the current housing bust.

“The market is showing signs of bottoming out,” said David Resler, paramount economist with Nomura Securities.

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