In another sign that the housing market is slowly making a recovery, January posted a 4% jump in sales of previously owned homes which is the fastest pace since May 2010. As sales rose in all four major regions of the nation, the West increased by 8.8%.
The National Association of Realtors reported yesterday that existing-home sales rose 4.3 percent in January which equates to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million homes.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for N.A.R. said, "Things are genuinely improving."
There's clearly an underlying recovery in place since, overall, sales are up 13% over the last six months and they are also up 38% from their mid-2010 low.
Additionally, first-time buyers increased slightly to 33 percent of sales while foreclosure made up 35 percent of sales last month. The inventory of unsold homes on the market is also shrinking.