Although housing analysts had been expecting a small drop in existing home sales, the market defied expectations and saw a 9.5% surge in February compared to the previous month. This equals approximately 4.38 million units sold.
Overall sales were down more than 3% year over year, but the uptick as the largest monthly gain since February 2023. The surge was driven by a 19.4% increase in sales in the West and 16.4% in the South. Sales in the Northeastern states remained stagnant.
“Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.”
Higher demand for existing homes also meant a higher median price for the homes, with prices up 5.7% from last year to $384,500. Approximately 20% of houses sold above the list price
