1-Family Home Sales Drop 3.8%

Sales of existing single-family homes dropped 3.8% in December, the second consecutive monthly setback, as sales for the year posted their first decline in five years, a real estate trade group reported today.

The National Assn. of Realtors said 3.52 million homes were sold in 1987, down 1.3% from 1986, when 3.57 million homes had been sold. It was the first annual decline since the recession year of 1982, when existing home sales plunged 17.7%. Economists said the 1987 sales decline had been expected, given the high level of sales in 1986 and the fact that interest rates were up this year.