US existing-home sales jumped 11.8 per cent in February

WASHINGTON – U.S. home sales soared 11.8 per cent in February, aided by accelerating wages and falling mortgage rates that are improving affordability.

The National Association of Realtors says that existing homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.51 million last month, a decisively sharp rebound from a pace of 4.94 million in January.

The real estate market is still recovering from a spike in rates for home loans last year, which caused sales to slow as the size of monthly mortgage payments jumped. As a result, existing home sales are down 1.8 per cent from a year ago.

But rates have since tumbled after peaking in early November, helping sales to recover.

The median sales price in January was $247,500, a slight increase of 2.8 per cent from last year.