October existing home sales fall more than expected

A vacant home for sale is pictured in Yonkers, New York, October 26, 2010.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of previously owned homes fell more than expected in October, possibly due to delayed foreclosures and overly strict lending standards, the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday.

Sales fell 2.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual unit rate of 4.43 million units from September's 4.53 million unit pace, the group said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected existing home sales to fall to a 4.49 million unit pace in October. U.S. stocks added to losses after the data.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said the decline in sales stems from "overly strict" lending standards which are preventing qualified borrowers from getting loans and "may be partly" due to the temporary halt of foreclosures as banks work through questions about paperwork.

Sales have fallen 25.9 percent over the past year, while median prices have fallen 0.9 percent in the past year to $170,500.

Yun said the group expects sales to total about 4.8 million units for all of 2010. He expects sales to rebound to what he considers a healthy pace of around 5.1 million by 2011.

(Reporting by Corbett B. Daly; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)