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February 25, 2004 7:57 AM, EST

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ales of previously owned homes fell 5.2% in January to 6.04 million houses at an annual pace, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

Houses sold at a revised 6.37 million annual rate in December, the group said.

When a home is sold, trucks are often needed to ship household appliances and furniture. Existing homes account for 85% of the residential real estate market and new homes the remainder.

NAR said some of the decline in sales could be attributed to harsher-than-usual winter weather in certain parts of the nation, Reuters reported.

Existing home sales rocketed to a record high 6.1 million in all of 2003.