WASHINGTON - Existing home sales fell 7.2% in January to a 5.05 million annual rate, exceeding economists’ estimates and marking the second-largest monthly decline on record, the National Association of Realtors reported today.
The January sales data is “certainly not good news” and is “raising concerns” now that existing home sales have declined for two months in a row following a surge in sales in November, said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.
Sales for December were revised lower to 5.44 million from 5.45 million sales reported last month. The percentage drop for December was 16.2%, the largest on record, and the January percent decline was the second-largest on record, dating back to 1989.
Yun said prices are stable from a year ago. The median existing home sale price in January was $164,700, unchanged from a year ago. The stable home prices provide a “tremendous boost to household wealth,” Yun said. The median price fell 3.4% from December.
Economists expected 5.5 million existing home sales in January, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
“A double dip for home sales would significantly increase the risk of a double dip for the entire economy,” John Lonski, chief economist for Moody’s Capital Markets Group said in a research note Thursday.
The months supply of existing homes increased in January to 7.8 months from 7.2 months in December.
Weather might have had an impact on sales in January, Yun said, but weather conditions usually “delay” transactions rather than cancel them.
New home sales fell to a record low of 309,000 in January, the Commerce Department reported on Monday.
