U.S. existing-home sales improved for the second month in a row, jumping 9.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million units, exceeding economists’ expectations and marking the largest monthly gain in a year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®(NAR). The rebound in home sales comes amid fluctuating mortgage rates and elevated sales prices, indicating there is plenty of buyer demand heading into the spring selling season. Closed Sales decreased 0.4 percent for existing homes and 1.6 percent for new homes. Pending Sales increased 7.6 percent for existing homes and 13.7 percent for new homes. Inventory increased 6.4 percent for existing homes but decreased 17.4 percent for new homes. The Median Sales Price was up 6.3 percent to $270,000 for existing homes but decreased 0.4 percent to $535,000 for new homes. Days on Market increased 6.1 percent for existing homes and 43.6 percent for new homes. Supply increased 16.7 percent for existing homes but increased 12.5 percent for new homes. The recent surge in home sales was likely due to a dip in mortgage rates in December and an increase in housing supply nationwide. According to NAR, total inventory grew 5.9% month-over-month and 10.3% year-over-year to 1.07 million units, for a 2.9 months’ supply at the current sales pace. Buyer demand remains robust, and the limited supply of inventory helped push the median existing-home sales price up 5.7% year-over-year to $384,500, the eighth consecutive month of annual price increases.
Source: Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors
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