The October existing home sales numbers are out. "The price of existing homes sold in October fell for the third straight month and posted the biggest drop on record, according to an industry trade group report. The number of homes sold in the month is down 11.5 percent from the pace of sales a year earlier which led to the glut of homes on the market rising once again to a record 3.9 million, up 1.9 percent from September, and 34.4 percent from a year earlier."

"The median price for a home sold dropped to $221,000 in October, a decline of 3.5 percent from a year ago. That was the biggest year-over-year price decline on record. It marked the third straight month that home prices have fallen compared to the same period a year ago, the longest stretch of such declines on record."

"David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said market fundamentals are improving. 'The present level of home sales demonstrates some confidence in the market, but sales are lower than sustainable due to psychological factors,' he said."

"NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs said sellers in most of the country are doing what it takes to attract buyers. 'With the exception of parts of the West, sellers are cutting their price enough to encourage sales,' said Combs. 'About 10 percent of the country is experiencing economic weakness, and a fourth of the nation, areas that had the biggest boom, is in a correction that will take longer to balance.'"

"Regionally, existing-home sales in the West were 18.9 percent lower than a year earlier. The median price in the West was $340,000, down 0.6 percent from October 2005. Existing-home sales in the Midwest were 0.2 percent lower than a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $170,000, which is 1.2 percent below October 2005."

"Existing-home sales in the Northeast were 9.8 percent below October 2005. The median existing-home price in the Northeast was $254,000, down 5.2 percent from a year earlier."

"Prices fell in all regions, with the South posting the largest year-over-year decline, a 6.7 percent decrease."

"'As expected, existing-home sales appear to be stabilizing, fingers and toes crossed,' said Lereah. Falling prices are 'a good thing,' Lereah said. 'Sellers are cutting their price enough to encourage sales,' said Combs."

"Sales of condos dropped 4.8% to 778,000. Median sales prices are down 5.3% in the past year to $214,300. Condo sales are down 14.5% in the past year. The inventory of unsold condos rose to 9.1 months. 'That's a segment of the marketplace that's experiencing some pain,' Lereah said."