MNI BRIEF: US Feb Existing Home Sales Jumps To 4.26M
MNI (WASHINGTON) - U.S. sales of existing homes increased 4.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million in February, the fastest since December and above Wall Street expectations, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Over the year, sales are down 1.2%.
"Home buyers are slowly entering the market in my view, even though mortgage rates have not really changed all that much, because of increased inventory and continuing job addition,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told reporters.
The national median home price was a record for the month of February. It was up 3.8% over the last year and up 1.3% over the month to USD398,400, the second consecutive time under USD400k. The inventory of unsold existing homes climbed 5.1% from the prior month to 1.24 million at the end of February, a 3.5 months' supply.