March home sales up, not first-time buys

WASHINGTON -- Investors lifted U.S. home sales last month, using cash to grab cheap homes at risk of foreclosure. But purchases made by first-time home buyers fell, a troubling sign for the weak housing market.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That's a 3.7 percent increase from the February pace but far below the 6 million homes a year that economists say represents a healthy market.

Foreclosures or short sales -- when the lender agrees to accept less than what is owed on the mortgage -- rose to make up 40 percent of all purchases. Sales among first-time buyers fell to 33 percent in March. -- AP