Sales of area homes are expected to remain slow throughout most of this year as historically high unemployment, fear of future layoffs and lack of new job creation continue to affect sales.

Nationwide new home sales fell last year to 374,000 homes sold, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It was the lowest number of homes sold in one year since 1963. There were nearly 5.2 million existing homes sold in 2009.

Sales of new and existing homes in Jackson also fell last year. A total of 792 Jackson homes were sold in 2009, down 12 percent from 2008, according to the Central West Tennessee Multiple Listing Service. The city’s home sales have fallen each year since 2005.

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