Existing-home sales, prices slide
U.S. sales of existing homes fell for a sixth straight month in January, while prices tumbled 4.6% amid swelling inventories, according to a report Monday that offered no end in sight for the housing slump.
The pace of existing-home sales fell 0.4% in January to an annual rate of 4.89 million units, the National Assn. of Realtors said in its report.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected home resales to fall to a 4.80-million-unit pace from the 4.89-million-unit rate initially reported for December. The December sales pace was revised to a 4.91-million-unit rate.
The national home market is in the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the market was “scratching the bottom,” with sales holding at a deflated rate of around 5 million units for the last several months.
“This is further evidence that it will take time to get housing back on its feet. This will not be a quick turnaround,” said Bret Barker, a portfolio manager with Metropolitan West Asset Management in Los Angeles.
The inventory of homes for sale rose 5.5% to 4.19 million units at the end of January, about 10.3 months’ supply at the current sales pace.
The national median home price fell to $201,100 from $210,900 a year earlier, the association said.
The price of the median single-family home was $198,700 in January, the lowest since $197,700 reported in January 2005.
On a regional basis, sales of existing homes in January were off 3.6% in the Northeast, 2.1% in the West and 0.5% in the South. The exception was the Midwest, where sales increased 3.4%.
The listless homes market is adding to concerns about the national economy, with many analysts predicting a near-term recession.
On Monday, the National Assn. of Business Economics said that 45% of its economists forecast a national recession before the end of the year, and a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago traced three months of below-average growth for the economy.
The housing slump is likely to have a “major negative impact” on consumer spending this year, according to more than 60% of the economists polled by the group.
