- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- McLaren's Norris sets Singapore pace as struggling Verstappen 15th
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- 8 dead in Israeli strike, source says Hezbollah commander killed
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
- Top Hezbollah commander 'killed' in Israel strike
US new home sales fell but supply crunch eases in February
After months of high prices and scarcity, the supply of new US homes on the market increased in February, though sales fell once again amid rising lending rates, according to government data released Wednesday.
Sales of new homes fell two percent last month to an annual rate of 772,000, seasonally adjusted, and January sales were revised down sharply, the Commerce Department said
The result was substantially worse than analysts expected.
The US real estate market boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to the Federal Reserve's easy money policies and the disruptions to daily life caused by the coronavirus.
However, the boom started to fade as available properties grew scarce and prices surged, and now is being hit by the Fed's interest rate hikes aimed at lowering inflation that have tightened borrowing conditions.
"We are braced for sales (to) quickly to return to their pre-Covid level and then drop to multi-year lows in the late summer. With inventory already quite high, at just over six months, the rate of price gains will slow sharply too," Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said.
The supply of new real estate for sale last month ticked up for the second month, rising to 407,000, an increase of 9,000 compared to January, which is equal to a 6.3 months supply at the current sales pace, the report said.
Meanwhile the median sales prices, not seasonally adjusted, fell in February to $400,600, much lower than the month prior, when it came in at $427,400. However, the average sales prices rose to $511,000 from $494,000 in January.
Sales were uneven across regions, shooting up 59.3 percent in the Northeast and growing 6.3 percent in the Midwest. But in the West, they fell 13 percent, while in the South, the drop was nearly two percent.
W.Lapointe--BTB