Following a strong start to the year, the sale of existing homes stumbled last month with activity in the Northeast and Midwest leading the disappointing results.
Completed sales of
single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-operatives came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million in February.
Activity fell from
a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million as of the previous month. The January 2016 rate had been the strongest number in six months.
The existing home sales data were reported Monday by the National Association of Realtors.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun called last month’s sales disappointing.
“The lull in contract signings in January from the large east coast blizzard, along with the slump in the stock market, may have played a role in February’s lack of closings,” Yun Explained in the report. “However, the main issue continues to be a supply and affordability problem. Finding the right property at an affordable price is burdening many potential buyers.”
Sales were
up, however, 2 percent from February 2015.
In the Northeast, existing home sales tumbled 17 percent from January to an annual rate of 0.63 million.
A 14 percent decline in the Midwest left the rate there at 1.12 million, and a 3 percent drop in the West put the annual rate at 1.13 million.
The South had the softest landing, off 2 percent to an annual rate of 2.20 million.
On just single-family homes, the U.S. rate was 4.15 million, down 7 percent from January.
NAR said that the median price on existing home sales was $210,800, higher for the 48th consecutive month on a year-over-year basis.
There were 1.88 million existing homes available for sale at the end of February 2016, up more than 3 percent from January but off 1 percent from February 2015.
At the current rate of sales, there is a 4.4 month supply of homes available for sale.
All-cash share was 25 percent last month,
while first-time buyer share was 30 percent, and distressed sales share was 10 percent.
It took 59 days to sell the average home in February 2016, down from 64 days a month earlier and 62 days a year earlier.
