Existing Home Sales | featured news

The rebound in the U.S. housing market accelerated in August as residential construction starts increased 2.3% and sales of existing homes rose 7.8%, according to new figures released Wednesday.

home resales fell in May and the median sales price rose only because of a drop in sale of lower priced homes, casting a shadow on the country's nascent housing market recovery.

Sales of previously owned homes in the United States dropped 0.9 percent in February, according to a report released Wednesday, lower than expected by economists. The disappointing number indicates that roughly five years after the housing bubble burst, the real estate market’s road forward remains bumpy. Many economists had thought with mortgage rates near record lows and the job market improving, existing home sales would rise, not decline.

U.S. home resales surged in January to a 1-1/2 year high and the supply of properties on the market was the lowest in almost seven years, pointing to a nascent housing recovery.

The economy seems to have picked up in the second half of the year. But apparently no one told the housing market. Home prices continued to fall in October, even as sales of existing homes picked up and homebuilders applied for more permits. After stabilizing this summer, prices fell at a 7.5 percent annual rate in the three months ending in October, according to the latest data from CoreLogic, a real estate research firm.

Sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly fell in June to touch a seven-month low as cancellations of pending contracts surged, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The National Association of Realtors said the number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in November. The index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes increased by 3.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in November, offering the latest sign the economy was ending the year on a more solid footing after a sluggish third-quarter performance.

Buying activity in the residential real estate market slowed dramatically in July, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. The dramatic plunge is yet another sign the U.S. economy may be heading toward a slowdown or double-dip recession.

Sales fall for a third straight month, dropping to the lowest level since last July.