U.S. Existing-Home Sales Drop
In First Quarter From Year Earlier
by Benton Ives-Halperin
Dow Jones Newswires
May 15, 2007
Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. fell in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, although market conditions improved from the end of 2006 to early 2007, a real estate group said Tuesday.
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Total state existing-home sales, including single-family houses and condos, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.41 million units, down 6.6% from a 6.86 million-unit level in the first quarter of 2006, the National Association of Realtors said.
But state existing home sales for the first quarter of 2007 were 2.4% higher than the fourth quarter 2006 level of 6.26 million, NAR said.
Prices of single-family homes rose in more than half of the 145 metropolitan areas measured. In the first quarter, 82 metro areas saw price gains from a year earlier, while 62 areas had price declines; and one was unchanged, the NAR said.
Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said the data show a broad stabilization: "One of the benefits of looking at quarterly data is that it's more representative than monthly reports, smoothing out the effects of unusual weather," he said in a statement.
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