Source: Nasdaq —
WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) – U.S. existing home sales increased for the first time in a year in February as a decline in prices on an annual basis pulled buyers back into the market, further evidence that the housing market was stabilizing at low levels.
Existing home sales surged 14.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.58 million units last month, the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday. The biggest increase since July 2020 ended 12 straight monthly declines in sales, which was the longest such stretch since 1999.
Sales increased in all four regions, with outsized gains in the Midwest, West and the densely populated South. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast home sales would rebound 5.0% to a rate of 4.20 million units.
Home resales, which account for a big chunk of U.S. housing sales, fell 22.6% on a year-on-year basis in February.
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