US existing home sales rise in February for 1st time in 13 months

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US existing home sales rose in February for the first time in 13 months, according to National Association of Realtors (NAR) data released Tuesday.

Existing home sales, which measures the change in the number of existing residential buildings sold, jumped 14.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.58 million.

The figure was hovering around its lowest since 2010 at 4 million in January when the nation was going through a mortgage crisis due to toxic subprime mortgages.

The latest figure also represents the largest monthly percentage increase since July 2020. However, compared to a year ago, sales are down 22.6%.

"Conscious of changing mortgage rates, home buyers are taking advantage of any rate declines," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. "Moreover, we're seeing stronger sales gains in areas where home prices are decreasing and the local economies are adding jobs."

The median existing-home sales price was $363,000 in February, a decrease of 0.2% from the same month last year, when it stood at $363,700, according to NAR.