Sales of previously owned US homes rose last month. Here’s why

    By
    -

    Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in February as easing mortgage rates and more properties on the market encouraged home shoppers.

    Existing home sales rose 4.2% last month from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

    Sales fell 1.2% compared with February last year, ending a string of five straight annual increases. The latest home sales topped the 3.92 million pace that economists were expecting, according to FactSet. 

    Home prices increased on an annual basis for the 20th consecutive month. The national median sales price rose 3.8% in February from a year earlier to $398,400, an all-time high for the month of February.

    “Homebuyers are slowly entering the market,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Mortgage rates have not changed much, but more inventory and choices are releasing pent-up housing demand.”

    U.S. home sales began to slump in 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.

    Read the full story.