Future Timeline

Sales of existing homes surged 9.5% in February from January to 4.38 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Housing analysts had been expecting a slight drop. Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023.

Sales surged the most in the West, up 19.4%, and the South, up 16.4%. Sales in the Northeast were unchanged. “Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.”

Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February. That represents a still low 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace.

Higher demand continued to push the median price higher, up 5.7% from the year before to $384,500 — the eighth straight month of annual gains. Competition was stiff, with 20% of homes selling above list price.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a solid 3.4% annual pace from October through December, the government said Thursday in an upgrade from its previous estimate. The government had previously estimated that the economy expanded at a 3.2% rate last quarter.

The Commerce Department’s revised measure of the nation’s gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services — confirmed that the economy decelerated from its sizzling 4.9% rate of expansion in the July-September quarter.

But last quarter’s growth was still a solid performance, coming in the face of higher interest rates and powered by growing consumer spending, exports and business investment in buildings and software. It marked the sixth straight quarter in which the economy has grown at an annual rate above 2%.

For all of 2023, the U.S. economy — the world’s biggest — grew 2.5%, up from 1.9% in 2022. In the current January-March quarter, the economy is believed to be growing at a slower but still decent 2.1% annual rate, according to a forecasting model issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.