NAR: Existing U.S. home sales fell in February; supply at record low

March 22 (UPI) -- Existing home sales in the United States declined by nearly 7% during the month of February, according to an industry report Monday, a drop-off a little greater than most experts anticipated.

The National Association of Realtors said in its report existing home sales fell 6.6% last month from January.

The existing inventory -- including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops -- fell to 6.22 million in February, though sales were still up 9.1% year to year.

"Despite the drop in home sales for February -- which I would attribute to historically-low inventory -- the market its still outperforming pre-pandemic levels," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.

Housing inventory remained at a record-low of 1.03 million units at the end of February, down almost 30% year-to-year.

"The fact that even with the decline in sales, the days on the market are swift, and prices rising," Yun told CNBC. "This is implying that it is not due to demand disappearing from the market, it is really lack of supply."

The NAR report said the median sale price last month was up to $313,000, up 15.8% over February 2020.