The US property market posted improvements for the third month in a row in line with economic improvements and a strengthening jobs market, the National Association of Realtors has claimed.
According to the firm, existing home sales increased by 2.7 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million in January.
This means that sales have increased by 5.3 per cent to climb above the 5.09 million level in January 2010, representing the first time in the last seven months that sales activity was higher than a year earlier.
"The uptrend in home sales is consistent with improvements in the economy and jobs, which are helping boost consumer confidence," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. "The extremely favourable housing affordability conditions are a big factor, but buyers have been constrained by unnecessarily tight credit. As a result, there are abnormally high levels of all-cash purchases, along with rising investor activity."
In total, investors accounted for 23 per cent of purchases in January, up from 20 per cent in December and 17 per cent in January 2010.