US existing home sales jump back in February, NAR says

Second hand sales of homes in the States rebounded sharply last month, bolstered by lower mortgage rates, growing incomes and improved consumer confidence.

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales in the US jumped by 11.8% in February from the month before to reach an annualised rate of 5.51m.

That was far higher than the improvement to a 5.1m pace of sales that economists had penciled-in, despite which sales remained about 1.8% below their year earlier level.

The median price for existing homes continued rising, increasing by 3.6% month-on-month to reach $240,800.

As did the stock of homes available for sale, which grew from 1.59m for January to 1.63m in February, whereas one year ago they stood at 1.58m.

On average, properties also remained on the market for less time last month, for 44 days, versus January's, although the year ago figure was just 37.

Commenting on the data, NAR chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said: "A powerful combination of lower mortgage rates, more inventory, rising income and higher consumer confidence is driving the sales rebound."

"For sustained growth, significant construction of moderately priced-homes is still needed. More construction will help boost local economies and more home sales will help lessen wealth inequality as more households can enjoy in housing wealth gains."