People were buying a few more homes last month.
Existing-home sales jumped 5.1% in February from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million units, a National Association of Realtors report said today. The rate was down 4.6% from a year ago and down 27% from the 2006 sales rate of 6.5 million homes. Still, on a percentage basis, the month-to-month gain was biggest since July 2003.
The increase was partly due to "deep price discounts," the trade organization said, and it was a surprise. Economists had expected a decline of 0.8% to 0.9%. The median sales price fell 15.5% to $165,400 from February 2008.
When the Realtors talk about big discounts, they're talking about buyers forced to take any price they can as well as foreclosed homes unloaded by lenders.
Lender-owned properties represented 53.7% of February sales in the Las Vegas metro area, for example. The median price of a home in that market was $155,600 in February, down 37% from a year ago and 51% since a June 2006 peak of $315,000.
Inventories of unsold homes rose by 5.2% to 3.8 million. That represents a 9.7-month supply, unchanged from February. But the inventory estimate is down 18% from a peak of 3.9 million units, which was an 11-month supply.
That's a good sign, Michelle Girard, senior economist at RBS Greenwich Capital, told Bloomberg Television. But she added that the housing market has a long way to go. Many would-be buyers won't commit until they see more job and economic stability.
Home-building shares were higher on the news. Pulte Homes (PHM, news, msgs) was up 7.9% to $10.60. D.R. Horton (DHI, news, msgs) jumped 11.4% to $9.32.
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