NAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity this February increased 9.5 % from January 2024. February's existing-home sales reached a 4.38 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. February sales of existing homes declined 3.3% from February 2023.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types reached $384,500 in February, up 5.7% percent from a year ago.

Regionally, in February, all four regions showed price growth from a year ago. The Northeast had the largest gain of 11.5% followed by the West with an incline of 9.1%. The Midwest had an increase of 6.8% while the South region rose 4.1%.

February's inventory of unsold listings as of the end of the month were up 5.9% from last month, standing at 1,070,000 homes for sale. Compared with February of 2023, inventory levels were up 10.3%. It will take 2.9 months to move the current level of inventory at the current sales pace, well below the desired pace of 6 months. Demand is currently outpacing inventory.

It takes approximately 38 days for a home to go from listing to a contract in the current housing market. A year ago, it took 34 days.

From a year ago, all four regions had declines in sales in February. The Northeast had the largest decline of 7.7%. The Northeast had the biggest dip of 5.9% followed by the Midwest which fell 3.1%. The South had the smallest decrease of 1.6%.   

Compared to January 2024, three of the four showed regions showed increases in sales. While the Northeast region was flat, the West had the biggest gain of 16.4% followed by the South with an increase of 9.8%. The Midwest region had the smallest growth in sales of 8.4%.

The South led all regions in percentage of national sales, accounting for 46.1% of the total, while the Northeast had the smallest share at 11.0%.

In February, single-family sales increased 10.3% and condominiums sales were up 2.5% compared to last month. Single-family home sales were down 2.7% while condominium sales fell 8.9% compared to a year ago. The median sales price of single-family homes rose 5.6% to $388,700 from February 2023, while the median sales price of condominiums inclined 6.7% to $344,000.