Existing Home Sales Remain Near Record Pace Despite January Decline - 3/1/2004 - Mortgage Loan Refinance Debt Equity

Existing Home Sales Remain Near Record Pace Despite January Decline

The pace of last month’s home resales was 2% above the sales rate of January 2003, the association reported.

“We have to keep in mind that the level of home-sales activity over the last six months has been the strongest on record,” said David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist.

Lereah said that resales in January were the sixth highest ever and exceeded the total forecast for this year. “We can expect month-to-month ups and downs, but the long-term trend is for home sales to stay close to record territory this year,” he added.

The median existing-home price was $168,700 in January, up 5.4% from a year earlier.

Sales fell 13.2% in the Midwest, 12.5% in the Northeast and 5.7% in the West. They were up 2% in the South, which accounted for about 41% of all the single-family homes resold in the country in January.