Existing home sales—which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops—fell 0.4-percent in January when compared to December of 2007 and 23.4-percent when compared to January of last year, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said in a report released Tuesday.
According to NAR’s data, existing-home sales hit a seasonally-adjusted rate of 4.89 million units last month—a decrease when compared to the 4.91 million units recorded the month before and the 6.44 million units recorded in January of 2007.

NAR’s leadership says struggles that plague the current mortgage market are responsible for the decline in sales.
“Subprime loans and other risky mortgage products have virtually disappeared from the marketplace, and over the past five months, this has been reflected in soft but fairly stable home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “As the increased limits for FHA and conventional loans are implemented, more buyers will have access to safer FHA loans and lower interest rate loans in high-cost areas, which could lead to steadily higher home sales later in the year.”
The median price for existing homes also dropped 4.6-percent between January of 2007 and January of this year. According to NAR, the median home price hovered at $201,000 in January, compared to $210,900 a year earlier.
And while high-priced real estate markets are reeling from deflating prices, NAR says several areas are experiencing increases such as Buffalo, New York; Peoria, Illinois; and Amarillo, Texas.
“Keep in mind the biggest slowdown in home sales last year was in high-cost markets, which were hard-hit by the credit crunch and notably higher interest rates for jumbo loans, but relief is on the way,” said NAR’s president Richard Gaylord. “Once buyers have greater access to higher loan limits, it will take a few months for increased shopping activity to translate into higher sales.”