Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Sales prices for existing U.S. homes fell the most on record in November, tearing a deeper hole into households’ already tattered finances.

The median resale price fell 13 percent from a year before, to $181,300, “probably the largest price decline since the Great Depression,” National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in Washington. Sales slid to an annual rate of 4.49 million, lower than forecast.

Sliding property values mean more Americans will be under water on their mortgages, likely leading to a further increase in already record foreclosure rates. Along with the wealth destruction from slumping stock portfolios, they also undermine consumers’ purchasing power.

“November sales just collapsed,” said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York. “Price declines are accelerating. As bad as this is, it’s going to be considerably worse in a month’s time.”

Separately, the Commerce Department reported today that new- home sales fell 2.9 percent last month to a 17-year low. The median sales price declined 11.5 percent from a year earlier.

U.S. household wealth already fell in the third quarter by the most on record, Federal Reserve figures showed earlier this month. Net worth for households and non-profit groups decreased by $2.81 trillion, the most since the Fed’s data began in 1952.

Stocks Drop

The Standard & Poor’s Supercomposite Homebuilding Index of stocks fell 1.4 percent to 206.66 at 11:11 a.m. in New York, the fourth straight day of declines. The S&P 500 Stock Index by contrast was up 0.4 percent.

Home resales were forecast to fall to a 4.93 million annual rate from an originally reported 4.98 million in October, according to the median estimate of 63 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Projections ranged from 3.98 million to 5.2 million.

Sales dropped 10.6 percent compared with a year earlier. Resales averaged 5.67 million in 2007 and before today’s report, fluctuated around a 4.96 million rate this year.

The number of previously-owned unsold homes on the market at the end of November represented 11.2 months’ worth at the current sales pace, up from 10.3 months’ at the end of the prior month.

Foreclosures and short sales accounted for 45 percent of last month’s home purchases, Yun said.

Property by Type

Resales of single-family homes fell 8 percent to an annual rate of 4.02 million. Sales of condos and co-ops declined 13 percent to a 470,000 rate.

Purchases declined in all regions of the country, led by drops of 12 percent in the Northeast and 10.9 percent in the South. Sales fell 7.4 percent in the Midwest and 4.3 percent in the West. Prices also fell throughout the country, led by a decline of 25.5 percent in the West.

Resales account for about 90 percent of the market. Sales of existing homes are compiled from contract closings and may reflect contracts signed one or two months earlier.

New-home sales, recorded when a contract is signed, are considered by economists to be a more timely barometer.

The Fed on Dec. 16 cut its benchmark interest rate target to a range of zero to 0.25 percent, and said it stands ready to expand purchases of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Bank debt under a program aimed at reducing mortgage costs.

Mortgage Rate

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan fell to 5.18 percent in the week ended Dec. 12, the lowest in more than five years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

President-elect Barack Obama on Dec. 13 said he will develop plans to limit foreclosures and “dramatically increase the number of families who can stay in their homes.” One tenth of U.S. families who own a home are in financial distress, Obama said.

The S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index is down a third so far this year, reflecting the plight of homebuilders.

Ara Hovnanian, chief executive officer of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., New Jersey’s biggest homebuilder, called on the government to provide an economic stimulus for the housing industry.

“If government wants to get to the root of the problem they need to fix housing first,” Hovnanian said in a conference call on Dec. 17. Hovnanian, whose company reported a fiscal fourth quarter loss, didn’t specify what type of government intervention he wants in the housing market.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 23, 2008 11:22 EST