The US National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAR) said that 4.38 million existing homes were transferred last month, an increase of 9.5% over the same period in 2023. This result is higher than the forecast of the US. economists polled by  Reuters  put it at 3.94 million units.

Expensive homes had the highest sales increase, with the over $1 million segment up 37% in February. Sales of homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million increased 23%.

Falling mortgage interest rates have provided momentum to the market. The average fixed interest rate for a 30-year loan package was 6.87% in the week ending March 21, a significant decrease compared to 7.79% in October 2023.

According to NAR, home buyers in February also had more choices thanks to the number of houses for sale increasing by over 10% over the same period, reaching 1.07 million units. “Additional housing supply is helping to meet market demand,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist.

But inventory is still significantly lower than the pre-pandemic level of nearly 2 million units. Because demand is still outstripping supply, selling prices continue to rise. The median existing home price for all home types nationwide increased 5.7% in February to $384,500, marking the eighth consecutive month of price increases.

“Homeowners are excited when prices increase but buyers are disappointed,” Ms. Yun said. Charlie Dougherty, director and senior economist at Wells Fargo, said home prices have increased 45% since January 2020 while incomes have not increased much. That makes many people disappointed in affordability.

Last month, first-time buyers accounted for 26% of sales, compared to 27% in February 2023. This rate is much lower than the 40% that economists and brokers say is necessary for the market to develop well.