Sales of existing US homes jumped more than expected in March, as first time home-buyers rushed to make purchases ahead of the expiration of a government tax credit, the National Association of Realtors said on Thursday.
Separately, official figures showed US wholesale prices recorded their largest annual gain since 2008 in March on the back of a big rise in food prices. Fresh claims for jobless benefits meanwhile fell last week, offering hope that the jobs market could be stabilising.
Existing home sales rose by 6.8 per cent last month, ahead of Wall Street analysts’ forecasts and a sharp improvement from February’s decline. Sales are up by 16.1 per cent from March 2009.
“The home buyer tax credit has been a resounding success as these underlying trends point to a broad stabilisation in home prices,†said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “This is preserving perhaps $1,000bn in largely middle class housing wealth that may have been wiped out without the housing stimulus measure.â€.
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