Dive summary:

• Existing-home sales rose 0.4% from December to January and stood 9.1% ahead of the year-ago annual rate nationally, and the National Association of realtors sees demand growing faster than supply in the coming months.
• The situation may prove good for homeowners who stand to get multiple offers in a sellers' market, but it also could turn some potential buyers to look at new construction instead.
• The association said the inventory of existing homes at the start of this month stood at 4.2 months' supply, based on January's pace; it had been 4.5 months at the end of December, and a year ago it was 6.2 months.

From the article:

Lawrence Yun: "In fact, buyer traffic is 40 percent above a year ago, so there is plenty of demand but insufficient inventory to improve sales more strongly." ...