Housing Data Show Further Weakness

Existing-home sales in January fell 23% from a year earlier as inventories remained near record highs, indicating further weakness in the U.S. housing market.

The report from the National Association of Realtors came on the same day that home improvement retailer Lowe's(LOW Quote) issued disappointing guidance for 2008 because of the slowing housing market.

The NAR said Monday that existing-home sales totaled an annual rate of 4.9 million units in January, better than the 4.8 million that economists expected. The rate compared with an upwardly revised level of 4.9 million in December and 6.4 million in January 2007. ...