Washington, Feb. 25 U.S. sales of existing single-family homes soared 16.2% in January, the largest monthly increase on record, the National Association of Realtors announced Monday. Existing home sales unexpectedly reached its highest seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.04 million units. Analysts had projected sales would be 5.20 million units from December's revised 5.20 million units.

The January sales pace was 14.6% above the January 2000 rate of 5.27 million units.
NAR's chief economist, David Lereah attributed the sharp increase in sales to mild weather and low interest rates. He also indicated, "We've had favorable affordability conditions for some time, but what's new is the effect of a gradual increase in consumer confidence combined with a turnaround in the economy. As a result, some people who've held back from major commitments over the last few months have entered the housing market."
REGIONAL ACTIVITY
While no region had any significant effect on January sales, all regions reported record highs. The West surged 23.3%. The Northeast and South jumped 16.4% and 16.1%, and the Midwest increased 8.3% Midwest.
OTHER DETAILS
The NAR said housing inventory was down in January. There was a 4.1-month supply of resale homes on the market during the month, compared to a revised 4.2-month supply of homes in December.
The median existing single-family home prices dropped in January to $151,100. In December, it revised to $153,100. Compared with January 2000, the median was up 10.2%.
THIRTY-YEAR, CONVENTIONAL, FIXED-RATE MORTGAGE RATE
The national average commitment rate for 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 7.00% in January from 7.07% the prior month, according to Freddie Mac national interest rate data, issued with Monday's numbers.
The home sales statistics follow recent government data that January single-family starts were up 3.5% to a rate of 1.345.
WHAT WAS EXPECTED
Estimates for January existing home sales ranged from 5.00 million to 5.29 million, according to a OsterDowJones survey.