US home sales fell again in January; prices edged higher

The nation’s housing slump dragged on into January as home sales fell for the 12th consecutive month to the slowest pace in more than a dozen years, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that existing U.S. home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million properties last month. That’s the slowest annual pace since October 2010, when the housing market was still reeling from the 2008 foreclosure crisis.

January’s sales cratered by nearly 37% from a year earlier and slipped 0.7% from December. Economists had projected a modest monthly rise in sales, according to FactSet.

The median U.S. home price edged up 1.3% from January last year to $359,000. That’s the slowest annual increase in home prices since February 2012. The median home price is down around 13% since it peaked in June last year.

The modest monthly sales drop and small increase in home prices suggests the housing market downturn may be nearing an end, said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.