February Sales Spike
The demand for housing in the area of existing home sales climbed 14.5% in February. This represents a shift in the erosion of existing sales that had been on the 12th month skid. It also represents a 22.4% increase year-over-year, which is the largest since July 2020. The median existing home sale price remained stable at $363,000, just 0.2% lower than January 2023
The trajectory of sales from existing homes is still down to 4.58 million homes in February, which is a 22.6% decline from February 2022.
Mortgage rates have fallen and are now under 7% which is helpful to buyers, but inventory still remains at a 2.6-month supply.
The days on market for February actually jumped to 34 days, from 18 days in February 2022, but basically were flat from January 2023. First-time buyers still make up a smaller percentage than what is usually the case, just 27% in February, which is down from the 31% reported in January 2023.
The percent of all cash transactions also fell to 28% in February, down from the 29% reported in January.
Distressed sales, which include foreclosures and short sales, accounted for 2% of all sales in February, which was equal to the same amount in January 2023 and February 2022.
Sales and all four regions increased in February 2023 from 2022:
Sales. % from January Price
Northeast + 4% $366,109
Midwest + 13.5% $261,200
South + 15.9% $342,000
West + 19.4% $541,100