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Home sales dropped in January

Fri, 02/26/2010 - 22:06 by Inderjit Singh

Washington -- Sales of existing U.S. homes dropped in January from December, but were 11.5 percent higher than January a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said.

The NAR said sales fell 7.2 percent in January from December to a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 5.05 million units -- a unit being defines as a single-family home, condominium or town house.

In January, the inventory of houses on the market fell 0.5 percent to 3.27 million existing homes, a 7.8-month supply at the current pace of sales.

The national median price in the monthly survey was $164,700, unchanged from a year ago, the NAR said.

Distressed homes, which made up 38 percent of the home sales in January "continue to downwardly distort the median price because they are typically discounted in comparison with traditional homes in the same area," an NAR statement said.

Copyright 2010 United Press International.

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