Existing us property sales up again in january, latest nar data shows

Existing home sales in the United States increased in January, marking three gains in the past four months, while inventories continued to improve, according to the latest analysis from the National Association of Realtors.

Its existing home sales index, which covers completed transactions that include single family homes, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million in January from a downwardly revised 4.38 million unit pace in December and is 0.7% above a spike to 4.54 million in January 2011.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said strong gains in contract activity in recent months show buyers are responding to very favourable market conditions.

‘The uptrend in home sales is in line with all of the underlying fundamentals such as pent up house hold formation, record low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices, sustained job creation and rising rents,’ he explained.

Source:  PropertyWire.com