Home sales unexpectedly rise in February

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer
Published: March 24, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) - After falling for six straight months, sales of existing homes posted an unexpected increase in February. But the median home price tumbled by the largest amount on record.
The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes rose by 2.9 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units. It was the biggest increase in a year and caught economists by surprise. They had been expecting a small decline.
Part of the sales improvement may have reflected more aggressive price cutting. The median home price fell to $195,900, a decline of 8.2 percent. That was the largest year-over-year drop on records that go back to 1999.