Sales were up 3.2% year-over-year for the month, despite the month-over-month decline.
The consensus estimate called for sales to reach 4.95 million, according to a survey of economists polled by Bloomberg.
Housing inventory increased by 0.5% in January to 1.87 million homes, which is equal to a supply of 4.7 months, up from a 4.4-month supply in December and down from last month’s total of 1.88 million homes.
According to the NAR, the national median existing home price in January was $199,600, up 6.2% compared with January 2014. Last month marked the 35th consecutive month of rising home prices.
NAR’s chief economist said:
January housing data can be volatile because of seasonal influences, but low housing supply and the ongoing rise in home prices above the pace of inflation appeared to slow sales despite interest rates remaining near historic lows.
Sales of single-family homes dropped 5.1% from December at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.27 million, up 3.9% compared with January a year ago. Sales of multifamily homes declined 1.8% year-over-year to an annual rate of 550,000.
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Foreclosed and short sales accounted for 11% of January sales, down from 15% in January 2014. Foreclosures sold at an average 15% discount to the January median price, and short sales sold at a discount of 12%.
All homes were on the market for an average of 69 days, higher than the December figure of 66 days and higher than the 67 days it took to sell a house in January of 2014. Foreclosed homes were on the market for an average of 63 days and short sales took a median of 128 days to sell. Non-distressed homes took 68 days to sell, and 30% of homes sold in January were on the market for less than a month.
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