Sales of previously owned homes dropped more than forecast in February, and the median purchase price declined to the lowest point since February 2002, Bloomberg reported after the release of a report from the National Association of Realtors.

Purchases decreased 9.6 percent to a 4.88 million annual rate, less than the 5.13 million median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The median price declined 5.2 percent from a year earlier, and 39 percent of the sales were distressed properties.

The figures underscore the Federal Reserve Board’s view that the housing market “continues to be depressed” even as the rest of the economy improves, Bloomberg said.

“The demand for housing just isn’t there,” said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, N. C. “We have to clear this inventory of foreclosures. We think that happens in the second half of the year.”

The number of previously owned homes on the market rose 3.5 percent to 3.49 million from January. At the current sales pace, it would take 8.6 months to sell those houses compared with 7.5 at the end of the prior month. Supply in the range of eight to nine months is consistent with stable home prices, the Realtors association has said.