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Existing Home Sales Unmotivated by Expiring Tax Credit04-08-10 | News

Existing Home Sales Unmotivated by Expiring Tax Credit

Total inventory of existing homes on the market. This represents an 8.6-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 7.8-month supply in January. Raw unsold inventory is 5.5 percent below a year ago. - Photo Courtesy of Mortgage News Daily

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Existing-home sales declined slightly in February, with modest gains in the Northeast and Midwest offset by softer sales in the South and West. A parallel National Association of Realtors practitioner survey shows first-time buyers purchased 42 percent of homes in February, up from 40 percent in January.

Investors accounted for 19 percent of transactions in February, compared with 17 percent in January; the remaining sales were to repeat buyers. This isn?EUR??,,????'?????<

Existing-home sales, which are finalized transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, slipped 0.6 percent nationally to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.02 million units in February from 5.05 million in January, but are 7 percent higher than the 4.69 million-unit pace in February 2009.

Single-family home sales declined 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.37 million in February from a pace of 4.43 million in January, but are 4.3 percent higher than the 4.19 million level a year ago. Existing condominium and co-op sales rose 4.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 650,000 in February from 620,000 in January. ?EUR??,,????'?????<