Home Sales Fall But Less Than Expected

Washington, DC, May 23, 2008--Home resales dropped 1 percent in April, the National Association of Realtors reported Friday.

Resales of houses and condos fell to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.89 million from 4.94 million in March, which was better than economists expected. However, the backlog of unsold homes was at a 23-year high.

Existing home sales have falled 17.5 percent in the past year and are down 33 percent from the peak in 2005.

The inventory of unsold homes jumped 10.5 percent to 4.55 million, an 11.2 month supply, which NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said was uncomfortably high.

For single-family homes alone, the inventory rose to 10.7 months' supply, the highest since 1985. For condos, the inventory of 14.2 months is the highest ever.

Median sales prices fell to $202,300, down 8 percent from a year earlier.