MarketWatch: Existing-home sales fall 2.6% to 10-year low

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Existing-home sales fall 2.6% to 10-year low

By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch


WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Resales of U.S. single-family homes and condos fell 2.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.86 million, the lowest level in 10 years, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

Resales have sunk 15.5% in the past year and are down about 33% from the peak in 2005. The pace of sales has been relatively stable since last August at around a 5 million annual pace. Read the full release.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected sales to fall to 4.95 million. See Economic Calendar.
The inventory of unsold homes on the market rose 0.2% to 4.49 million, an 11.1-month supply at the current sales pace, the second-highest inventory level since the mid-1980s.

The median sales price fell 6.l% in the past year to $215,100.

Sales of single-family homes fell 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.27 million, the lowest since January 1998. Sales of condos rose 1.7% to an annual rate of 590,000, the highest since November.

About a third of sales are distressed sales, either foreclosures or short-sales. Many foreclosures aren't included in the data at all because they are not sold through the realtors' multiple-listing service. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B628E0C05%2D56FA%2D47EC%2D8EEF%2DB20C44D853CE%7D&siteid=mktw