Sales of homes across Fairfield County rose to their highest fourth quarter total in a decade as listing inventory continued to slide. There were 2,527 sales in the fourth quarter, up 11.7% from the same period last year. Listing inventory moved in the opposite direction, falling 11.1% to 5,714 from the prior year quarter. As a result of rising demand and falling supply, the pace of the market accelerated. The absorption rate, the number of months to sell all inventory at the current rate of sales, fell 20.2% to 6.8 months over the same period…