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U.S. home sales fall 2.2%

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Sales of previously owned U.S. homes nudged lower in October.

The National Assn. of Realtors said Tuesday that sales fell 2.2% from the prior month and were 26% below their level in October 2009, when sales were being fueled by a tax credit for buyers.

Sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million, the group said.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the group, said sales will likely continue to slump this year, particularly after some major lenders put freezes on some foreclosures.

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“The housing market is experiencing an uneven recovery, and a temporary foreclosure stoppage in some states is likely to have held back a number of completed sales,” Yun said. “Still, sales activity is clearly off the bottom.’

Michael D. Larson, a housing and interest-rate analyst with Weiss Research, said the figures indicated that the market is stagnating because of the high level of unemployment and uncertainty over a jobs recovery.

“Get used to ‘boring’ figures for a while -- relatively stable sales rates, relatively stable pricing and relatively stable levels of construction activity,” Larson said. “That’s not as bad as the free-fall we were seeing a couple years ago, but it certainly isn’t a robust recovery either.”

The national median price for previously owned homes was $170,500 in October, down 1% from October 2009. Foreclosures and other distressed properties accounted for 34% of the market last month compared with 35% in September and 30% last year.

Housing inventory fell 3.4% to 3.86 million homes ready for sale, representing a 10.5-month supply at the current sales pace. Regionally, sales fell 2% in the West, 3.4% in the South, 1% in the Midwest and 1.3% in the Northeast.

-- Alejandro Lazo

(AP Photo/Bill Sikes)

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