U.S existing home sales rally to a 13-year high in February

The National Association of Realtors released its monthly report on U.S home sales in February on Friday. The data showed home sales in the United States to have climbed to a record in the past 13 years in February. The recovering housing market, however, is likely to lose momentum again in the subsequent months amidst the rising economic pressures from the Coronavirus pandemic.

Friday’s report, as per the analysts, covers data from January and start of February only when the economic impact of Coronavirus hadn’t turn severe in the United States.

Economists See A High Risk Of Recession In The United States In The Second Quarter of 2020

Many economists have already forecast that the risk of recession in 2020’s second quarter is at an all-time high. Others see it to have already started with mass job cuts at the U.S bars, restaurants, hotels, and airlines on the way. According to the U.S government, the count of U.S citizens filing unemployment benefits has rallied to the highest since 2012.

Jobless claims, economists added, are expected to exceed 2 million in the upcoming week.

Friday’s data showed a 6.5% increase in the U.S existing home sales in February to 5.77 million units annually (seasonally adjusted). The reading was branded the best since February 2007. Economists had estimated a 0.7% growth in existing home sales in the U.S to 5.50 million units annually in February.

On a year over basis, U.S existing home sales surged 7.2% in February. Existing home sales account for 90% of total home sales in the United States.

Single-Family Homebuilding Surged To The Highest Level In February Since June 2007

Friday’s government data also reported single-family homebuilding to have surged to the highest level in February since June 2007. Single-family homebuilding makes up the broadest share of the U.S housing market. In terms of completions, single-family houses were recorded the highest in February since December 2007. Homes under construction, on the other hand, surged to a level that was last seen towards the end of 2006.

The forex market remained volatile on Friday. The broad movement in the U.S dollar index saw the EUR/USD currency pair climbing to 1.0830 from 1.0650 this morning. Later in the day, however, the pair dropped back significantly to below the opening level and hit 1.0635. At the time of writing, EUR/USD is exchanging hands at 1.0665 in the forex market.