LOS ANGELES — In September, the market for existing homes in the United States experienced a decline, marking the slowest annual sales rate in nearly 14 years, even as mortgage rates showed signs of easing and the inventory of homes available for sale continued to grow.

According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously owned homes decreased by 1% in September compared to August, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.84 million. This figure represents the lowest annual sales pace since October 2010, a period when the housing market was still significantly affected by the aftermath of the late-2000s real estate crash.

When compared to September of the previous year, sales experienced a drop of 3.5%. The recent sales figures did not meet the expectations set by economists, who had forecasted a pace of around 3.9 million, as per data from FactSet.

Interestingly, despite the ongoing slowdown in sales, home prices have continued to rise. For the 15th month in a row, the national median sales price saw a 3% increase over the past year, reaching $404,500.

Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of the NAR, commented that home sales have stabilized at approximately a four-million-unit rate over the prior year. However, he noted that there are emerging factors that typically correlate with increased home sales activity.