Mortgage rates keep existing home sales strong

Associated Press

Sales of existing homes edged down a slight 0.1 percent in January as attractive mortgage rates continued to support strong demand in the housing market, a real estate trade group reported.

The National Association of Realtors said existing single-family homes and condominiums were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.80 million units in January, down from a revised 6.81 million units in December.

The median price for a home sold was $189,000 in January, an increase of 10.5 percent from January 2004.

The strength in January came from sales of condominiums which rose by 2.3 percent to an annual rate of 858,000 units. This offset a 0.5 percent decline in sales of single-family homes which dropped to 5.94 million units.

Even with the small overall decline in sales, demand for homes remained strong, according to the group. The supply of homes fell to a record low of 3.7 months, the amount of time it would take to sell all of the homes on the market at the January sales pace.