Existing Home Sales down. Chicago Fed National Index down.

Existing Home Sales (March 2013)

– Existing Home Sales (seasonally adjusted, annualized)  4,920,000. Previous was 4,980,000

– Existing Home Sales  Month/Month  -0.6%. Previous was +0.2%.

– Existing Home Sales Year/Year +10.3%.

New Home Sales for March will be released tomorrow.  About 88% of all home sales are of existing homes. The drop in existing home sales is, in part, due to the fact that the supply of existing, foreclosed homes has dropped.

Chicago Federal Reserve National Activity Index  (March 2013)

– Level  -0.23. Previous was revised from +0.44 to +0.76.

– 3 Month Moving Average  -0.01. Previous was revised from +0.09 to +0.12.

As its title indicates, this is not a regional index but a national one.  It is produced by the Chicago Federal Reserve.

Today’s data is weak.  It questions both the strength of the housing market and the overall economy and augurs weak GDP growth.  1stQ2013 GDP will be published Friday.