WASHINGTON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The pace of sales of existing homes in the United States fell 3.1 percent in October to a 4.98 million-unit annual rate, while the median home price dropped to its lowest in more than four years, a National Association of Realtors report showed on Monday.
Economists polled by Reuters were expecting home resales to set a 5.00 million-unit pace. September's figure was revised downwards to 5.14 million from 5.18 million.
The inventory of existing homes for sale slipped 0.9 percent to 4.23 million from 4.27 million in September. The median national home price declined 11.3 percent from a year ago to $183,300, the lowest since March 2004 when a median price of $183,200 was recorded. The percentage drop was the biggest since the NAR started keeping records in 1968.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)