Home Sales | featured news

The recovery may have gotten off to a slow start in the third quarter, but a surge in sales of existing homes in November could presage a more robust end to the year.

The number of homes with tentative buyers reached its highest level in three years in October, as Americans took advantage of a credit for first-time homeowners.

Home sales far exceeded expectations last month, surging to the highest level in two and a half years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of an expiring tax credit.

Signed contracts to buy previously occupied U.S. homes rose for the eighth straight month in September as buyers scrambled to take advantage of a tax credit for first-time buyers.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes surged to their highest level in more than two years in September, a survey showed on Friday, providing further evidence the housing market and economy were on the mend.

Home resales dipped last month after a four-month streak of gains, providing evidence that the housing market recovery remains fragile.

The U.S. manufacturing sector grew in August for the first time in over a year and a half, while pending home sales surged to a two-year high in July, adding to mounting evidence the longest economic slowdown since the Great Depression is ending.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes in July notched their fastest pace in nearly two years, an industry survey showed on Friday, the strongest sign yet that housing was pulling out of a three-year slump.

U.S. consumers spent more in June and pending sales of previously owned homes also rose, data issued on Tuesday showed, but the biggest drop in incomes in four-and-a-half years pointed to a slow recovery from the worst recession in decades.

A realtors' index for pending sales of previously owned homes increased a third month in a row, rising 6.7% in April from March and up 3.2% from a year earlier.