The number of existing-home sales in January rose significantly, reaching the highest level in seven months, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. The increasing sales include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops. The sales volume rose by 3.0 percent from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.46 million units.
"Although we're expecting existing-home sales to gradually rise this year, and buyers are responding to the price correction, some unusually warm weather helped boost sales in January," said David Lereah, NAR's chief economist. "On the flip side, the winter storms that disrupted so much of the country in February could negatively impact the housing market. These weather events are unusually large. Many transaction closings were postponed in February and home shopping was essentially shut down for about a week in many areas. We shouldn't be surprised to see a near-term sales dip, but that will be followed by a continuing recovery in home sales."
Meanwhile, there was a drop in new-home sales during January, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department. The sales pace declined 16.6 percent for the month, down 20 percent from a year ago. "The falloff in new-home sales reflects a return to more normal weather conditions, following the weather-related increase in sales late last year," said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.