Good News, Bad News for U.S. Housing Market

There was good news and bad news for the housing market in January. Sales of existing homes rose to an annual rate of 6.46 million in January, the highest level for seven months. But after increasing in December, the median price of an existing home fell by nearly 5%, to $210,600.

Separate data for the smaller market in new homes showed that sales plunged in January by 16.6%, to an annual rate of 937,000—the biggest drop in 13 years.

From The Economist.