Sales of existing U.S. homes fell 5.2 percent in January, as housing activity settled after hitting record high levels in 2003, a report by the National Association of Realtors showed on Wednesday.
Sales of previously owned homes slid to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.04 million units from a revised 6.37 million rate in December, the real estate group said. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting a 6.28 million unit rate.
"The housing markets are healthy, very healthy, and all of these dropoffs are expected," said David Lereah, chief economist at NAR.
He added that some of the decline in sales could be attributed to harsher-than-usual winter weather in the north of the country.
Existing home sales rocketed to a record high 6.1 million in all of 2003 as mortgage interest rates hovered not far above lows not seen since the early 1960s.
Inventories shrank in January by 4.3 percent compared to the previous month to a total of 2.2 million homes available for sale, or a 4.4 months' supply at the current sales pace.
The median pre-owned home sales price jumped 5.4 percent from the same month a year ago to $168,700.
