US existing home sales fall 4.9pc in January

(Sharecast News) - Existing home sales fell by 4.9% to 4.08m in January, according to the National Association of Realtors. Last month's decline marked the sharpest drop for seven months and falling short of expectations for a reading of 4.12m.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said: "Mortgage rates have refused to budge for several months despite multiple rounds of short-term interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. When combined with elevated home prices, housing affordability remains a major challenge."

The median price for existing home sales fell 1.9% month-on-month to $396,000, while the inventories grew to 3.9 months from 3.7 months in December.

On an annualised basis, existing home sales grew 2%.







Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com