Bad News for Housing: Existing Home Sales Slip, Inventory Rises

Existing home sales fell fractionally in February from the previous month but the housing and mortgage industries received a new dose of bad news Tuesday morning with total inventories rising 9.5% during the month to 3.59 million units. Also, some housing analysts now expect a compressed spring home buying season because of expiring federal tax credits benefiting first-time home buyers and certain move-up customers. Another bad omen for the market, according to analyst Eric Landry of Morningstar, is an increase in listings by non-distressed sellers. The National Association of Realtors reported that existing homes sales slipped 1.4% in February on a seasonally adjusted basis to 4.37 million units. (The figure excludes condominiums and cooperatives.) Compared to February of last year, one- to four-family home sales rose 4.3%. NAR is blaming the poor numbers, in part, on bad weather in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. "Some closings were simply postponed by winter storms, but buyers couldn't get out to look at homes in some areas and that should negatively impact near-term contract activity," said NAR economist Lawrence Yun. He added that, "Although sales have been higher than year-ago levels for eight straight months and home prices are much more stable compared to the past few years, the housing recovery is fragile at the moment."