The promises of home sales in the United States fell sharply in February, a month that was difficult for the economy with exceptional bad weather and as the real estate market suffered from a shortage of homes for sale.
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According to the National Federation of Real Estate Agents (NAR), sales promises fell 10.6%, much more than expected by analysts who expected -2.6%, after already a drop of 2.8% on months before.
Over one year, the drop was 0.5% in February.
"
The demand is vast for the purchase of a house, there are often several offers to buy a property and it does not stay long on the market but these transactions do not succeed because there is too little stocks,
”summarized Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the NAR.
He points out that only the high-end market "is
experiencing more activity because there is a reasonable supply
" of houses for sale.
Stabilization of rates at 3.5%
The economist also noted that the demand for the purchase of houses does not seem to decrease despite "
a recent and slight rise in interest rates on mortgages
".
According to him, even if the costs of loans go up, "
rates should remain relatively low, hardly above 3.5% in 2021
".
The real estate sector, which performed well during the health crisis and posted sharp price increases, also suffered from bad weather in February, which paralyzed part of the country's infrastructure, especially in Texas.
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Sales promises have fallen sharply in all regions of the country, starting with the South (-13%), the Midwest (-9.5%), the Northeast (-9.2%) and the West (-7.4%).