US October home sales jump to 30-month high
- Source: Global Times
- [03:48 November 25 2009]
- Comments
While sales of previously owned US homes jumped last month to a 30-month high, a fall in an economic gauge and the mitigated GDP growth still remind of the patchy recovery.
Sales of existing homes surged a record 10.1 percent month-over-month in October, the US National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Monday, as buyers rushed to take advantage of a popular tax credit for first-time buyers that had been scheduled to end this month.
Sales of existing homes surged in October to an annual rate of 6.10 million units, the NAR reported, beating market expectations for a 5.70 million-unit pace and above September's 5.54 million-unit rate.
"Home prices are almost there. We are seeing less of a decline in house values,"said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. He said the Realtors group expected strong sales for November, related to the federal tax credit.
The housing market is slowly recovering after a three-year decline, which helped tip the US economy into its worst recession in seven decades.
"Although the data is biased higher from policy measures, we do believe this sharp gain signals pent-up demand and a willingness to purchase homes, which is a good sign for the sustainability of the housing recovery,"said Michelle Meyer, an economist at Barclays Capital in New York.
