Existing US home sales fall 9.6% in February

March 21, 2011 Sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell 9.6% in February, the  (NAR) said today, in a sign that the U.S. housing market is still. The figure was worse than the 3.9% decline anticipated by the economists surveyed by    and questions whether the  U.S. housing market is beginning to recover  or will continue to fall.

A combination of s and, where the mortgage holder sells the house for less than owed on the , accounted for almost 40% of the  sales.

Millions of foreclosures have forced down home prices and the number of foreclosures are predicted to rise this year. The inventory of existing homes listed for sale rose 3.5% at the end of February, a 8.6-month supply at the current sales rate. As more homes are listed in the spring, the inventory of houses for sale will probably increase. A five or six month inventory is usually considered a healthy balance between.

According to, another 3.6 million bank-owned homes and possible foreclosures will be added to the inventory by 2013, adding to the 6.7 million home foreclosures since 2006. Thus housing inventories will probably continue to remain high, delaying the point when prices stabilize. The median sales price in February fell 5.2%, down to a price level not seen since  April 2002.

"We have an uneven, choppy recovery," said NAR's chief economist. "Hopefully it is a recovery that is taking place."