Initial Reports Suggest Slow Start for Spring Housing Market

According to Morningstar Investment Research, the latest news was neither terribly encouraging nor discouraging. The good news is that the rather dramatic rate of decline in existing-home sales has been halted. By single month, at an annualized rate, existing-home sales dropped from 5.4 million units in July to 4.6 million units in March. That 4.6 million figure was nearly identical to February. Still, if this had been entirely a weather issue, the industry should have been able to do something a little better than eke out a slightly smaller decline. The year-over-year data doesn't paint a flattering picture, either.