February home sales fall amid higher mortgage rates, prices

By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in February as competition for a near-record low number of properties on the market drove prices higher and rising mortgage rates kept would-be buyers on the sidelines. The National Association of Realtors said Friday that existing home sales fell 7.2% last month from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.02 million. That’s less than the roughly 6.1 million sales that economists had been expecting, according to FactSet. Sales declined 2.4% from February 2021 as the median home price jumped 15% from last year at this time to $357,300.