Existing-home sales recovering, but not new builds
Sales of existing homes rose in January, but sales of new homes slowed. There’s a pretty simple reason — existing homes are significantly cheaper because that’s the part of the market affected by foreclosures, as distressed sales account for about a third of existing-home sales. One caveat: The National Association of Realtors, which compiles the existing-home but not new-home data, says it’s reviewing the quality of the figures — and outsiders say the group may have overstated figures by some 20%. The NAR says any overstatement may be on the order of “single digits.”
