U.S. homes sales figures

from yesterday's Royal Bank of Canada update (9/24):

RBC ECONOMICS RESEARCH - DAILY ECONOMIC UPDATE - September 24, 2008

U.S. existing home sales fall, but inventories moving lower

"Existing home sales were slightly weaker than expected in August, dropping 2.2% to an annualized 4.91 million units compared to an upwardly revised level in July of 5.02 million units (originally reported as 5.00 million units). Market expectations had been for a 1.2% decline to 4.94 million units.

However, the report did provide some hope that the imbalances in the housing market are starting to correct as the inventories of unsold homes dropped a sizeable 7% to 4.255 million units. This represented the second largest monthly decline since the end of 2004. Measured in terms of sales days, the ratio moderated to 10.4 days from 10.9 days despite sales weakening in the month.

Weakness in the housing market was also conveyed by the median sales prices of homes sold, which dropped 3.4% in August. This sent the year-over-year rate down to 9.5% from 8% in July. The annual decline in August represented a record low."...

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