The existing home sales data for February is out. "Existing-home rose in February following five months of decline, indicating a stabilization is taking place in the market, according to the NAR. Total existing-home sales ncreased 5.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.91 million units in February from an upwardly revised pace of 6.57 million in January, but were 0.3 percent below a 6.93 million-unit level in February 2005."

"David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said mild weather appears to be responsible for some of the gain. 'Weather conditions across much of the country were unseasonably mild in January and likely were a factor in higher levels of buyer activity, which boosted sales that closed in February,' he said. 'Higher interest rates had been tapping the breaks, notably in higher-cost housing markets since mortgage interest rates trended up last fall.'"

"NAR President Thomas M. Stevens from Vienna, Va., said comparisons with market performance over the last five years distort what people should expect from housing as an investment. 'Housing is simply returning to a normal market, where annual home prices will rise a little faster than the overall rate of inflation,' said Stevens."

"Total housing inventory levels rose 5.2 percent at the end of February to 3.03 million existing homes available for sale."

"Lereah said sales activity at present was really a 'tale of two cities' with some of the hottest markets showing declines while some medium priced markets still posting strong sales gains. He said that sales were down by double-digit levels in such hot sales markets as Phoenix, Fort Lauderdale and San Diego. He said, by contrast, sales were up by double-digit amounts in aeas such as Indianapolis, Albuquerque and Houston.

"The boost in sales in February was likely due to warmer than usual weather in January, when sales that were closed in February were initiated, the realtors said. On a less positive note, the supply of unsold homes also rose 5.2% in February to 3.03 million, close to the all-time record of 3.04 million in 1986.""

Looking at the PDF file on the linked page, the national median is $209,000, down from $220,000 in August 2005. In the west it's $306,000, down from $327,000 last August. In the south, the median is $182,000, down from $189,000 in October. In the midwest, it was at $160,000, off from $176,000 in August, and the northeast was at a high of $263,000 from $250,000 this month last year. Sales by region were as follows, all YOY: NE up 2.6%. MW up 1.9%. South up 3.1%, and the west was down 10.6%.

Inventory is up 30.2% year over year and months supply is up 32.5%. February's nationwide median was the fourth straight monthly decline.