Many older home owners want to sell their empty nests for something more manageable.

They have heard home sales are slow due to rising mortgage rates and prices of older homes.

The rumors are true.

Sales of existing local homes fell 8% in the last 6 months through September.

Earl McLeod of the Columbia Builders Association said this was caused by higher rates, prices and fewer homes for sale.

Existing home sales fell 3.4% in September to a 5.15 million rate, a 34-month low. Two-thirds of the September decline was in the South, likely related to Hurricane Florence, McLeod said.

But sales were also down in the Northeast and West and unchanged in the Midwest.

Inventory edged up to 4.4-months’ supply

(6.0-months’ supply is considered balanced). Unsold inventory, 1.88 million, was slightly above last year’s 1.86 million level.

New home sales were up 3.5% in August but the gain came off downward estimates for June and July. That was consistent with the summer slump in new and existing home sales. Home sales have softened due to rising buyer concerns over housing affordability as home prices have grown faster than income growth and rising mortgage interest rates.

Despite the disappointing numbers for the summer, total sales for the first eight months of 2018 (448,000) are 6.9% higher than the comparable total for 2017 (374,000).

The costs of owning a home have risen since last year.

A year ago, a 30-year mortgage was 3.94% and now is 4.85%.

Demographic tailwinds should continue for new, single-family construction.