The pace of sales of homes in the United States dropped sharply in March to a 6.12 million-unit annual rate, a report said today.
Sales were off 8.4 per cent from February, the sharpest drop since a 12.6 per cent drop in January 1989, the report from the National Association of Realtors said.
Economists polled by Reuters were expecting home sales to slip to a 6.45 million unit rate from the 6.69 million unit pace originally reported for February.
The February sales pace was revised to a 6.68 million unit pace. The inventory of homes for sale fell 1.6 per cent to 3.745 million units.
But because the pace of sales was anaemic, the supply in terms of months' worth of sales was pushed up to 7.3 months from 6.8 in February. March's figure was the highest since October's 7.4 months.