US home sales rebound from record low
April 26th, 2011 - 11:36 am ICT by IANSWashington, April 26 (IANS/EFE) The pace of new home sales in the US increased 11.1 percent last month to an annualised rate of 300,000 units, the Commerce Department said Monday.
Though the figure is an improvement from February’s all-time low of 270,000 and exceeded most analysts’ expectations, sales were still down by 21.9 percent from March 2010 and remain far below the level of 700,000 that is seen as the sign of a healthy housing market.
Sales in February were hurt by unusually harsh winter weather in the Northeast.
The median price of new homes rose 2.9 percent in March to $213,000.
Sales of existing homes in the US climbed 3.7 percent in March to an annualised rate of 5.1 million units, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said last week.
Even so, sales were 6.3 percent lower than in March 2010.
The median price for an existing home sold in March was $159,600, a decline of 5.9 percent from 12 months earlier, according to NAR.
The inventory of existing homes on sale expanded 1.5 percent last month to 3.55 million units, which represents a supply of 8.4 months at the current pace of sales, down slightly from 8.5 months at the end of February.
–IANS/EFE
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- US sales of existing homes rise - Feb 24, 2011
- New home sales in US rose in November - Dec 24, 2011
- Rise in US new home sales - Oct 27, 2011
- House prices still falling in US - Mar 30, 2011
- US new home sales rise - Nov 29, 2011
- Rate of new home construction in US rises - Jul 20, 2011
- US new homes sales decline in June - Jul 27, 2011
- Plunging US home sales spark fears of slower recovery - Aug 25, 2010
- Slight fall in US house prices - Feb 24, 2012
- US house prices fall - Feb 24, 2012
- US consumer prices rose in September - Oct 20, 2011
- Home sales fall in Spain - Aug 11, 2011
- US new home sales fall 1.6 percent in February - Mar 24, 2012
- US economy slows in first quarter - Apr 29, 2011
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