February home sales hit strongest pace in a year as mortgage rates ease and more houses hit market
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in February from the previous month to the strongest pace in a year as homebuyers were encouraged by a modest pullback in mortgage rates and more properties on the market.
Have home prices bottomed? While low housing inventory stymies sales, bidding wars prop up prices
While sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell again last month, the national median home sales price rose to $406,700, marking its first annual increase since January, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.
Home sales in June fell to the slowest pace since January with near-historic low inventory for sale
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in June to the slowest pace since January, as a near-historic low number of homes for sale and rising mortgage rates kept many would-be homebuyers on the sidelines.
May home sales rise with near record-few on the market and biggest annual price drop since 2011
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes edged higher in May and the national median sale price posted its biggest annual drop in more than a decade, as a near all-time low supply of available properties constrained the housing market.
US home sales fell in March in tepid homebuying season start
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in March and prices edged lower for the second month in a row, a tepid start to the spring homebuying season as buyers contend with sharply higher mortgage rates and a near historic-low number of properties on the market.
Mortgage rates' rise has led to wide gap with US bond yields
Economists are baffled by a wider-than-usual divergence between long-term mortgage rates and the yield on the benchmark U.S. government bond that is driving a sharp rise in borrowing costs and helping to torpedo the U.S. housing market this year.
Existing US home sales fell in February, while prices rose
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed last month as rising prices and a dearth of homes for sale kept some would-be buyers on the sidelines. The National Association of Realtors said Monday that existing homes sales in February fell 6.6% from January to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.22 million annualized units. Sales were up 9.1% from February last year, before the pandemic upended the economy and temporarily held up home sales last spring. However, a recent rise in mortgage rates was not, as February sales largely reflect contracts signed weeks before the uptick in rates. โIn the upcoming months, perhaps, demand will retreat a bit given the recent rise in mortgage rates,โ Yun said.
US existing home sales, and prices, rise again in January
Existing U.S. home sales rose 0.6% in January from the previous month to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.69 million annualized units, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. The red-hot housing market has left the number of available properties for sale at record lows. The dearth of homes for sale has been the main driver of home prices. โNo winter slowdown.โThe housing market has mounted a strong comeback since last summer after declining sharply in the spring when the coronavirus outbreak hit. AdYun, of NAR, expects the average 30-year mortgage rate to tick higher, possibly reaching 3% by midyear.
More Americans signed contracts to buy homes in June
The number of Americans signing contracts to buy homes rose for the second straight month after a devastating spring freeze brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that its index of pending sales rose 16.6%, to 116.1 in June, its highest level since 2006. All four regions saw more contract signings for the second straight month. In May, the number of Americans signing contracts to buy homes rebounded a record 44.3% after plunging during the usually busy spring season as buyers and sellers were sidelined by coronavirus-related closures and regulations. Last week, the government reported that sales of new homes jumped 13.8% in June, the second straight increase after two months when sales plunged as the country went into lockdown because of the coronavirus.