U.S. existing-home sales up 3.9 percent in February

Existing-home sales in the United States rose by 3.9 percent in February, the biggest monthly gain since the same month of 2004, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Friday.

The rise pushed total sales of previously-owned homes, including single-family, town homes, co-ops and condominiums, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.69 million units in February.

Existing-home sales in January had been revised downward to 6.44 million units. Compared with the same period of 2006, sales in February dropped by 3.6 percent.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast surged 14.2 percent. In the Midwest, sales increased by 3.9 percent, while sales in the South gained 1.6 percent. Sales in the West were unchanged in February.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was 212,800 dollars in February, down 1.3 percent from the same month of 2006. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

It marked a record seven consecutive months that the median home price fell, compared with the same period a year ago.

David Lereah, NAR's chief economist, said the strong gain in February is a bit of a surprise.

"Some of the rise in home sales may be from mild weather that brought out shoppers in December, but fundamentals have improved in the housing market and buyers see a window now with historically-low mortgage interest rates and competitive pricing by sellers," he said.

"Even so, winter storms last month discouraged shopping, and buyers were chilled with the third coldest February on record. These unusual weather patterns mean home sales that close in March may decline before rebounding later this spring," Lereah said.

Source: Xinhua