US home sales surged in February as mortgage rates dipped

By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes surged in February to the fastest pace in six months as homebuyers seized on a modest drop in mortgage rates and slight pullback in prices. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that existing home sales jumped 14.5% last month from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.58 million. That’s the strongest sales pace since September. The surge in sales ended a 12-month slide that knocked the nation’s housing market into its deepest slump in nearly a decade as mortgage rates more than doubled last year. Still, sales sank 22.6% from February 2022. The national median home price slipped 0.2% from February last year to $363,000, the NAR said.