Existing home sales dropped 0.9% in February from January to 4.59 million, but it was still the strongest February in five years, report Allan Zibel and Eric Morath for The Wall Street Journal. The National Association of Realtors stated that February sales were 8.8% higher year-over-year and the first two months of the year showed the strongest start since 2007.
“We feel very good about the latest sales trend,” said Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors’ top economist. “Buyers are very serious this year.”
Housing-related ETFs are among the best performers, including:
- SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSEArca: XHB): up 25.0% year-to-date
- iShares Dow Jones u.S. Home Construction Index Fund (NYSEArca: ITB): up 25.8% year-to-date
- iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index Fund ETF (NYSEArca: IYR): up 9.9% year-to-date
SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF
For more information on the real estate market, visit our real estate category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.