With stock markets roller-coasting by the most on record, February pending home sales rose 3.5% MoM (seasonally-adjusted) dramatically beating expectations. In fact, sales spiked 29.5% MoM (non-seasonally-adjusted) – the best February spike ever. Price gains have slowed notably, which is being cheered by NAR’s Larry Yun, but notably the majority of the sales surge in Feb was driven by an 11.4% spike in The Midwest (biggest since Dec 2008).
Panic buying homes in Feb: