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U.S. existing home sales in January rise to almost 10-year high

Xinhua, February 23, 2017 Adjust font size:

Existing home sales in the United States rose to the highest level in almost a decade in January, as strong job market improved consumer confidence to buy a house, an industry report showed Wednesday.

Total existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, grew 3.3 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million in January, said the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

January's sales pace is faster than market expectation of 1.1 percent, at a rate of 5.55 million, reaching the highest since February 2007. Compared to the same month in 2016, it is 3.8 percent higher.

"Much of the country saw robust sales activity last month as strong hiring and improved consumer confidence at the end of last year appear to have sparked considerable interest in buying a home," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun in a statement.

The median existing home price for all housing types in January was 228,900 U.S. dollars, 7.1 percent above the level a year ago, making the 59th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.

"Market challenges remain, but the housing market is off to a prosperous start as homebuyers staved off inventory levels that are far from adequate and deteriorating affordability conditions," said Yun.

Total housing inventory at the end of January rose 2.4 percent to 1.69 million existing homes available for sales, which represents a 3.6-month supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from December 2016. Compared with the data in January 2016, total housing inventory is 7.1 percent lower. Enditem