Washington ? Sales of previously owned homes dipped slightly in October but still clocked in at the fourth-highest pace on record, a fresh sign that the housing market is in solid shape.

The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that sales, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, totaled 6.75 million units in October, representing a tiny 0.1 percent decline from the previous month.

The pace of sales in October matched economists’ expectations.

“Existing home sales held up well in October, holding essentially steady from September’s reading which was just shy of the all-time high set in June,” said Steve Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital.

The housing market, aided by low mortgage rates, has been a constant bright spot for the economy.

Analysts predict sales for all of 2004 will set new record highs.

The average monthly rate on a 30-year mortgage in October was 5.72 percent. That was down from 5.75 percent in September and considerably below 5.95 percent seen in October 2003.

“The ongoing stimulus of lower-than-expected mortgage interest rates was the primary driver of strong home sales in October,” said David Lereah, the association’s chief economist.

In September, sales of previously owned homes rose by 3.2 percent to a pace of 6.76 million units, slightly stronger than initially estimated.

The median price of a previously owned home was $187,000 in October, up 8.8 percent from the same month last year.

By region, sales fell in all parts of the country except for the South, where they rose by 3.7 percent in October from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.77 million.

In the Northeast, sales dropped by 1.3 percent to a rate of 750,000.

In the Midwest, sales clocked in at a rate of 1.37 million, a 2.8 percent decline from September. Sales in the West fell by 3.6 percent to a rate of 1.86 million.