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Existing home sales unexpectedly plunge in January

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A for sale sign sits outside of a house in Miami Beach in this October 22, 2009 file photo. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

A for sale sign sits outside of a house in Miami Beach in this October 22, 2009 file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria

WASHINGTON | Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:08am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of previously owned homes in the United States unexpectedly plunged in January, an industry survey showed on Friday, fresh evidence the housing market has yet to find stable ground.

The National Association of Realtors said that sales fell 7.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.05 million units, sharply below market expectations for a 5.50 million unit pace.

December sales were revised slightly lower to 5.44 million pace from 5.45 million units. Compared to January last year, sales of existing homes were up 11.5 percent.

"Today's figure is certainly not good news in terms of sales," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR.

(Reporting by Corbett B. Daly; Editing by James Dalgleish)
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Comments (2)
Anna123 wrote:
If people do not have jobs or money none will rush to buy a home that they end up paying 200 times the value of the home.
No bargain here.

Feb 26, 2010 11:12am EST  --  Report as abuse
GotDOCG wrote:
I have been writing for three years that Case Shiller, Moody’s RealtyTrac and the rest of the “experts” are out of touch with reality. Based on the methodology, the numbers that they publish are off by a factor approaching 100%… the 1-4 unit residential real estate catastrophe will continue on this track for at least 3-5 years… read the details at my blog…

http://stanbrody.blogspot.com/2010/01/housing-jobs-versus-health-care-reform.html

Feb 27, 2010 10:13am EST  --  Report as abuse
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