[Seoul=Newsis] Reporter Jae-Jun Lee = The American Real Estate Brokers Association announced on the 18th that the number of used home sales in February recorded 6.02 million, down 7.2% from the previous month on an annualized basis.
According to the Associated Press and CNBC, the Association of Real Estate Brokers said that the number of used home sales in February fell sharply for the first time in two months due to rising mortgage interest rates and a long-term housing shortage.
Still, used home sales are still above pre-COVID-19 levels.
The median market estimate set by the Dow Jones in advance was 6.13 million, which was 110,000 below that. Second-hand home sales fell 2.4% in February compared to the same month last year.
By region, all four regions of the U.S. Midwest, South, West, and Northeast showed a decrease.
The median selling price was $357,300, up 16% from the same month last year.
Home loan interest rates surged in February, and the 30-year fixed rate jumped from an average of 2.81% in February 2021 to 3.76% this year.
The week before the US Federal Reserve raised the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points on the 16th, the average fixed rate stood at 4.16%, surpassing 4% for the first time since May 2019.
As the Fed has announced that it will continue to raise rates further if necessary to contain inflation, housing loan rates are expected to rise further.
Based on the February sales trend, the inventory digestion period was 1.7 months, down from 2.0 months in the same month last year. A healthy supply-demand balance digestion period is 6-7 months.
The NAR noted that prospective buyers of used homes are under double pressure from rising interest rates and rising selling prices.
