US existing home sales rise more than expected in January
Sales of US existing homes rose more than expected in January, to a 10-year high, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
Sales were up 3.3% to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 5.69m from an upwardly-revised 5.51m in December 2016. This was ahead of analysts’ expectations for a more modest increase to 5.54m.
The January sales pace is 3.8% higher than a year ago.
Meanwhile, the median price for an existing home was up 7.1% from the same month last year to $228,900. January’s price increase is the fastest since last January’s 8.1% and marks the 59th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.
Total housing inventory at the end of January rose 2.4% to 1.69m existing homes available for sale, but is still 7.1% lower than a year ago and has fallen year-over-year for 20 straight months.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said: “Much of the country saw robust sales activity last month as strong hiring and improved consumer confidence at the end of last year appear to have sparked considerable interest in buying a home.
"Market challenges remain, but the housing market is off to a prosperous start as homebuyers staved off inventory levels that are far from adequate and deteriorating affordability conditions."