Home Sales Boom in February
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Phillip Spears/Digital Vision(NEW YORK) — Sales of previously-owned homes in February sold at a brisker rate than in over three years, the National Association of Realtors reported on Thursday.
Almost five million homes were sold, the best month since November 2009. February sales also represented a 10 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.
Several factors were responsible for the spike in sales, including near record-low mortgages, fewer foreclosures and a temporary $5,000 tax credit for home buyers.
Americans also appear a bit more confident about their individual financial state with the unemployment rate continuing to fall slowly but steadily.
Meanwhile, the median sales price in February was $173,600, up nearly 12 percent from the same month in 2012. Sellers were probably encouraged by this factor to put their home on the market.
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