Existing home sales in the U.S. saw a significant rebound in the month of January, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday.
NAR said existing home sales jumped by 3.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.00 million in January after falling by 0.8 percent to a revised rate of 3.88 million in December.
Economists had expected existing home sales to surge by 5.0 percent to a rate of 3.97 million from the 3.78 million originally reported for the previous month.
Despite the notable monthly increase, existing home sales in January were down by 1.7 percent compared to 4.07 million in the same month a year ago.
“While home sales remain sizably lower than a couple of years ago, January’s monthly gain is the start of more supply and demand,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Listings were modestly higher, and home buyers are taking advantage of lower mortgage rates compared to late last year.”
The monthly rebound in existing home sales came as sales accelerated in the Midwest, South and West and remained steady in the Northeast.
The report also said housing inventory at the end of January totaled 1.01 million units, up 2.0 percent from 990,000 units in December and up 3.1 percent from 980,000 units a year ago.
The unsold inventory represents 3.0 months of supply at the current sales pace, down from 3.1 months in December but up from 2.9 months in January 2023.
NAR said the median existing home price was $379,100 in January, an increase of 5.1 percent from $360,800 a year ago.
Next Monday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on new home sales in the month of January.
New home sales are expected to increase to an annual rate of 675,000 in January after jumping to a rate of 664,000 in December.
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