The realtors association has the April numbers out. "Total existing-home sales, including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, slipped 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.76 million units in April from a downwardly revised level of 6.90 million in March, and were 5.7 percent below the 7.17 million-unit pace in April 2005."

"'Right now, the numbers we are seeing are soft-landing numbers,' Lereah said. However, he said the housing industry was closely watching the growing inventory of homes for sale. There were a record 3.38 million homes for sale in April."

"Existing home sales were down in the four regions of the U.S. Demand fell 3.7% in the Midwest, 1.4% in the West, 1.9% in the South, and 0.8% in the Northeast."

"The housing market peaked in August, said David Lereah, chief economist for the real estate group. 'This may be the bottom. It appears May is a little better.'"

"Half of the country is cooling and half is heating up, Lereah said. Florida, California and Arizona are cooling, with inventories building up and prices beginning to fall. On the other hand, markets in Texas, the Carolinas, Ohio, Utah and New Mexico are gaining momentum."

"Lereah continued to predict a soft landing for housing, but cautioned that the market is at a 'delicate juncture.' His group is closely watching inventories in the rapidly cooling markets."

"Condo sales fell 2.7% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 839,000. Sales of single-family homes dropped 2% to 5.92 million annualized."

"'Existing owners in many cases are not willing to accept sizable reductions in their asking prices,' Lynn Reaser, economist at Bank of America. 'It depends on the particular set of circumstances but in this cycle we could see more of a price adjustment take place later this summer and into the fall.'"

"Federal Reserve policy makers are expecting a gradual cooling in the housing market to help relieve inflationary pressures, which may allow them to stop raising interest rates. 'It was critical to get the housing market slower to get some froth out of the economy, and it appears that is happening,' Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns in Toronto."

From the NARs' PDF file; US resale inventory: in millions.

2.270..2003

2.224..2004

2.474..Apr. 2005

2.556..May 2005

2.678..June 2005

2.756..July 2005

2.841..Aug. 2005

2.772..Sept. 2005

2.868..Oct. 2005

2.924..Nov. 2005

2.846..Dec 2005

2.883..Jan. 2006

2.985..Feb. 2006

3.198..Mar. 2006

3.383..Apr. 2006