Sales of Existing Homes in U.S. Fall 2.2% in January

Existing home sales declined 2.2% in January as rising mortgage interest rates combined with the usual winter lull to brake sales to their slowest pace since last summer, a real estate trade group said Wednesday.

The National Assn. of Realtors said resales of single-family homes totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.48 million units in January, compared to 3.56 million one month earlier. It was the slowest pace since last August’s 3.44-million rate.

John A. Tuccillo, the realtors chief economist, said he did not see a big increase in existing home sales soon but added that “as rates taper off in the spring, we expect sales to pick up.”

Surveys by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. show that fixed-rate, 30-year mortgages rose to 10.05% during January from 9.83%.

“The rate rise in January made a dent, in high-end and less-expensive markets,” said realtors’ President Norman D. Flynn, who also noted that the start of a new year is a slow home sales period.

The housing market has been hurt by the Federal Reserve’s high interest policies designed to stem inflation by slowing the economy.

SALES OF EXISTING HOMES

Seasonally adjusted annual rate, millions of units. Jan.,’90: 3.48. Dec.,’89: 3.56. Jan.’89: 3.55.

Source: National Assn. of Realtors