Home sales make record jumps in February

Realtors simply pointed out the release of mortgage rates and house prices for jumps in demand.

" Consumers are very sensitive to mortgage rates, at least that is what we find out. As the mortgage rate began to fall, there was clearly a strong upside claim, said Lawrence Yun, chief executive of the real estate agents.

At the beginning of last year, housing demand was robust and relatively low, with the average rate of the popular 30-year fast being just around 4 percent, according to Mortgage News Daily. It caused a frenzy in buying through the spring. But with the supply remaining tight, the prices overheated.

In the summer, these prices were moving out of now, especially as interest rates began to increase. In November, the average interest rate for the 30-year period had risen above 5 per cent, and housing sales fell.

Mortgages then began to fall in December and certainly moved lower in January to around 4.5 percent, causing renewed interest in buyer demand. More consumers now think it is a good time to buy a home and believe the economy is better, according to a realtors survey in the first quarter of this year. [1[ads1]9659003] Stil I, sales in February were 1.8 percent lower annually, because prices were slightly higher.

But supply also increased, an increase of 3.2 per cent from the previous year in February. House prices have been moderate for several months and were only 3.6 percent in February, the smallest annual gain in a few years.

"You can see that we still tend to moderation, as years of high price gains have offset the benefit of lower prices," wrote Peter Boockvar, Bleakley Advisory Group Investment Manager. "The much more timely weekly mortgage loans see flat growth year-over-year, but we hope that the spring season will see a pick-up in transactions."

Now, observers are asking for renewed demand will cause house prices to warm up again.

So far, they have not because builders barely rape their single-family building, especially in the lower part of the market.

Existing home sales were still depressed at the entry level, down almost 11 percent annually for homes priced below $ 100,000. Even the sale of homes priced between $ 100,000 and $ 250,000 was flat.

A major change is that sales of higher homes that had had strong gains last year were over 6 per cent in February. This may be due to changes in the tax code that removes deductions from pricier homes.

"For those of us who live in high tax states, I am concerned about the housing market," added Boockvar. [19659003] In the future, it is unlikely that the housing market will see large monthly jumps like this, which were more than four times the usual move in both directions. The supply is increasing, but still low at only 3.5 months supply price. A six-month supply is considered to be a balanced market between buyers and sellers. Income growth is stronger this year, but a large proportion of buyers are still on the verge of being able to afford a home.

"For home sales remain on the market longer after years of frenetic home purchase, and price reductions on listed homes are on top," noted Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com. "But still high house prices and relatively low inventory will continue to present affordability pressures, especially for first-time home buyers."