Existing Home Sales jumped 9.5% from January to February to a 4.38-million-unit annualized pace, reaching their highest level in a year per the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). This report measures closings on existing homes in February and likely reflects people shopping for homes in December and January, when rates were improved from last fall’s peak.
What’s the bottom line? Inventory increased 5.9% from January, with NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun noting that “additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand.” Rising inventory is certainly a step in the right direction to help improve the persistent tight housing supply we’ve seen across the country. However, the 1.07 million homes available for sale at the end of February is still below healthy levels at just a 2.9 months’ supply of homes at the current sales pace. Yun added that “more supply is clearly needed to help stabilize home prices and get more Americans moving to their next residences.”