US homes sales bounced back in February as homebuyers seized on easing mortgage rates

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes bounced back in February as home shoppers took advantage of easing mortgage rates and a modest increase in properties on the market heading into the spring homebuying season.

Existing home sales rose 1.7% last month from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

Sales fell 1.4% compared with February last year. The latest sales figure topped the 3.84 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Home prices continued to rise last month, albeit more slowly. The national median sales price increased 0.3% in February from a year earlier to $398,000, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 32 months in a row.

The latest sales trends follow a dismal January, when existing home sales posted their biggest monthly decline in nearly four years and the slowest annualized sales pace in more than two years.

The U.S. housing market has been in a slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained stuck last year at 30-year lows.

Sales have been hovering close to a 4-million annual pace now going back to 2023. That’s well short of the 5.2-million annual pace that’s historically been the norm.