Existing-Home Sales Top Forecasts

Existing-home sales were stronger than expected in March, dropping just 0.7% from a year ago, but inventories rose to the highest level since 1998 and sales were weak in the West.

Total existing-home sales, including single-family, townhomes, condos and co-ops, came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.92 million homes, compared with 6.97 million a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Economists expected sales to drop to a rate of 6.65 million.

"It's just a sign that the housing market is slowing and it is not falling off a cliff like some has expected," says Gina Martin, a Wachovia economist. ...