Sales of previously owned homes fell 5.1 percent in January, according to estimates released by the National Association of Realtors. With the drop, last month’s sales pace was the slowest since July 2012. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, believes unusual weather played a role in the decline. According to Yun, disruptive and prolonged winter-weather patterns across the country are impacting a wide range of economic activity and housing is no exception. Decreasing sales activity is expected to turn around, however, as the weather warms and the selling season begins this spring. Also in the report, prices continue to rise, with the median existing-home price up 10.7 percent from one year earlier. In part due to limited inventory, price increases are also being driven by a nearly 10 percent year-over-year drop in the number of distressed homes, including foreclosures and short sales, sold during the month. And though inventory has tightened, January’s estimate shows a slight increase from the month before. At the current sales pace, there was a 4.9 month supply of unsold homes available for sale at the end of January, up from 4.6 months in December. A six-month supply is considered healthy for the market and represents an equal balance of buyers and sellers. More here.