U.S. existing-home sales surge 6.5 percent in February

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Friday that the U.S. existing home sales climbed 6.5 percent m-o-m to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.77 million in February from a revised 5.42 million in January (originally 5.46 million). That was the highest level since February of 2007.

Economists had forecast home resales increasing to a 5.50 million-unit pace last month.

In y-o-y terms, existing-home sales climbed 9.6 percent in February.

According to the report, single-family home sales stood at 5.17 million in February, up from 4.82 million in January, and up 7.3 percent from a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $272,400 in February, up 8.1 percent from February 2019. Meanwhile, existing condominium and co-op sales were recorded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 600,000 units in February, about even with January's sales, but 7.1 percent higher than a year ago. The median existing condo price was $249,900 in February, a gain of 7.0 percent, from a year ago.

Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, noted that February's home sales were encouraging but not reflective of the current turmoil in the stock market or the significant hit the economy is expected to take because of the coronavirus and corresponding social quarantines. "These figures show that housing was on a positive trajectory, but the coronavirus has undoubtedly slowed buyer traffic and it is difficult to predict what short-term effects the pandemic will have on future sales," he said.