Current:Home > MyFebruary home sales hit strongest pace in a year as mortgage rates ease and more houses hit market-InfoLens
February home sales hit strongest pace in a year as mortgage rates ease and more houses hit market
View Date:2024-12-23 11:45:35
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in January from the previous month to the strongest pace in a year with homebuyers encouraged by a modest pullback in mortgage rates and more properties on the market.
Existing home sales climbed 9.5% last month from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s the strongest sales pace since February last year and topped the 3.93 million sales pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.
Sales rose on a monthly basis in February for the second month in a row, but fell 3.3% from a year earlier.
The pickup in sales helped push up home prices compared with a year earlier for the eighth month in a row. The national median sales price climbed 5.7% from a year earlier to $384,500. That’s the highest median sales price for February on records going back to 1999.
While the supply of homes on the market remains below the historical average, the typical increase in homes for sale that happens ahead of the spring homebuying season gave homebuyers a wider selection of properties to choose from.
At the end of last month, there were 1.07 million unsold homes on the market, a 5.9% increase from January and up 10.3% from a year earlier. That’s the highest inventory of homes for sale for February since 2020, the NAR said.
Even so, the available inventory at the end of last month amounted to a 2.9-month supply, going by the current sales pace. That’s down from a 3-month supply in January, but up from a 2.6-month pace in February last year. In a more balanced market between buyers and sellers, there is a 4- to 6-month supply.
“Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.
veryGood! (7532)
Related
- 1 monkey captured, 42 monkeys still on the loose after escaping research facility in SC
- Florida teen who was struck by lightning while hunting with her dad has died
- Millions take to China’s railways, roads, air in 1st big autumn holiday since end of zero-COVID
- California man who shot two sheriff’s deputies in revenge attack convicted of attempted murder
- World leaders aim to shape Earth's future at COP29 climate change summit
- Summer House's Paige DeSorbo Weighs in on Carl Radke and Lindsay Hubbard's Shocking Break Up
- Missing Kansas cat found in Colorado and reunited with owners after 3 years
- Why What Not to Wear's Stacy London and Clinton Kelly Just Ended Their Decade-Long Feud
- AIT Community Introduce
- Kylie Jenner's Naked Dress Is Her Most Glamorous Look Yet
Ranking
- John Krasinski named People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2024
- People’s Choice Country Awards: Icon Recipient Toby Keith Shares Update on Stomach Cancer Battle
- This week on Sunday Morning (October 1)
- The Supreme Court will decide if state laws limiting social media platforms violate the Constitution
- See Leonardo DiCaprio's Transformation From '90s Heartthrob to Esteemed Oscar Winner
- Police in Portland, Oregon, are investigating nearly a dozen fentanyl overdoses involving children
- Reese Witherspoon's 'Love in Fairhope' follows Alabama singles in new take on reality TV
- Texas couple arrested for jaguar cub deal in first case charged under Big Cat Public Safety Act
Recommendation
-
Tropical Storm Sara threatens to bring flash floods and mudslides to Central America
-
Peter Thomas Roth Flash Sale: Get $116 Worth of Skincare Products for Just $69
-
COVID vaccine during pregnancy still helps protect newborns, CDC finds
-
Child care cliff is days away as fed funding expires. Millions could lose child care, experts say.
-
NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Allison dies at 86
-
Here's How a Government Shutdown Could Impact Millions of Americans
-
Trump's legal team asks to delay deadlines in special counsel's election interference case
-
Best and worst performances after a memorable first month of the college football season