Existing home sales fall for 5th straight month

Sales of existing homes fell for a fifth consecutive month in January, the National Association of Realtors recently reported in the latest sign that the once-sizzling housing market is cooling rapidly.

The National Association of Realtors reported that home sales fell 2.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.56 million units, the slowest pace in two years. The news came a day after the government reported that sales of new homes fell 5 percent in January.