Sales of existing houses plunged in March by the largest amount in 18 years, reflecting in part, rising troubles in the subprime mortgage market, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The article, however, goes on to say that this plunge is not quite as evident in the St. Louis area.

The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that sales of existing houses fell by 8.4% in March. The sharpest plunge was back in 1989 when it dropped 12.6 percent. Dennis Norman, president of the St. Louis Association of Realtors notes reports that the sales of existing homes in the Missouri area increased in March over sales in February. He goes on to say….

"That doesn’t surprise me, St. Louis never does anything when the rest of the country is doing it."

Sales have been hurt somewhat by bad weather and the problems with subprime lending and buyers attitudes are changing. Al Suguitan, president of the Greater Gateway Association says,

"Those that were going to buy have bought, and those that are going to buy are now sitting on the sidelines for a bit, waiting to see what’s going to happen with housing prices."

The fact of the matter is that the loans that have been given to borrowers with weak credit is catching up to the market. Buyers are having more trouble getting loans because lenders are tightening their standards. I don’t blame the lenders. The rising number of mortgage delinquencies has basically surged by 47 percent in March compared to a year ago. This has amounted to a huge inventory of unsold houses that could take months or even years to unload. I guess I will be staying put for a while.