Existing home sales surged in February
|Existing home sales easily bested expectations and rose 9.5% during February. Although still relatively slow, the 4.38 million-unit pace marks the strongest pace since February 2023. The surprising strength is likely explained by the dip down in mortgage rates which occurred at the start of the year. Affordability is still a major headwind, but even a slight decline in financing costs looks like it was enough to pull buyers off of the sidelines. Inventory remains tight, but a small swell of new supply hitting the market was another factor driving the faster sales pace. February's upturn is an encouraging sign that the resales recovery is underway. That noted, mortgage rates have ticked higher in recent weeks, which means further progress in the near term will likely be limited by affordability constraints. Looking further ahead, however, existing home sales should gradually trend higher this year alongside less restrictive monetary policy and slightly lower mortgage rates. For more on our housing outlook, please see Housing Market 2024: An Early Spring or Longer Winter?Summary
Existing home sales hit strongest pace in a year
Home buying picks up in February
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