Resales of U.S. homes and condominiums fell in January to the lowest level in seven months, calling into doubt the resilience of the housing recovery, MarketWatch reported.

Sales of existing homes dropped 7.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said today.

“It’s not good news,” said Lawrence Yun, the real estate group’s chief economist. “There is rising concern about the strength of the housing recovery.”

After rising steadily through the fall, following the extension of an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, resales have fallen for two consecutive months. The 16.2 percent decline in December was the largest on record, and January’s decline is the second-largest since 1999, when the NAR began tracking consolidated sales of single-family homes and condos.

Yun said he is still optimistic that a new season will bring renewed hope for a resurgence of sales in reaction to the expanded tax credit, which was originally set to expire on Nov. 30, 2009.

To qualify, buyers must sign contracts by April 30 and close no later than June 30.

“Let’s see what happens in the spring,” Yun said.

Thirty-eight percent of January’s sales were distressed sales, such as foreclosures and short sales. That figure was up from about 32 percent in December.

The $164,700 median sales price for an existing home was unchanged from a year earlier.