Existing home sales up, but prices down

It doesn't take an MIT mathematician to figure out that it's a home buyer's market in most areas in the United States, and February's existing home price data provides further confirmation.

Existing home sales rose 5.1 percent in February to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million units, the National Association of Realtors announced Monday, with price cuts serving as a key driver of activity. The median sales price plunged 15.5 percent in the past year to $165,400. The February sales pace exceeded the Bloomberg News consensus estimate, which had seen a 4.49-million-unit annual pace. Existing home sales totaled a 4.4 million annual pace in January.