US existing home sales lowest in 13 years in 2010

Jan 20, 2011, 19:43 GMT

Washington - The number of previously owned homes sold in the United States slumped in 2010 to the lowest level in more than a decade, an industry group said Thursday.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported sales of existing homes fell to 4.91 million last year, the lowest since 1997, from 5.16 million in 2009. The slump came despite a strong December, in which sales jumped 12.8 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.28 million.

Last year represented a topsy-turvy year for the still-fragile US housing sector, as government incentives to buy homes spurred sales in the first half of 2010 but sparked a major slump when the incentives expired mid-year.

Prices for existing homes fell another 1 per cent last year to 173,000 on average, pulled down further by the combination of a drop in demand and a huge number of vacant homes on the market.

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