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(Kitco News) - The gold market is seeing substantial losses, trading near session lows and could struggle to find any bullish momentum as the U.S. housing sector continues to show signs of stabilizing as consumers start to buy again.
Existing home sales surged 14.5%to a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate of 4.58 million units, compared to January's annualized rate of 4.00 million homes, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Tuesday. The latest housing market data was significantly stronger than expected, as economists were looking for a sales rate of 4.19 million homes.
The increase in existing home sales last month ended 12 months of consecutive losses. The NAR said that this is the largest one-month jump since July 2020. However, sales are still sharply weaker for the year, down 22.6% from February 2022.
The gold market is seeing solid technical selling pressure. April gold futures last traded at $1,953.70 an ounce, down 1.46% on the day.
According to the NRA, home buyers started jumping into the housing market in February to take advantage of lower mortgage rates as the 10-year bond yield fell below 3.4% early last month.
"Conscious of changing mortgage rates, home buyers are taking advantage of any rate declines," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Moreover, we're seeing stronger sales gains in areas where home prices are decreasing and the local economies are adding jobs."
The NAR noted that housing inventories are starting to improve even as they remain at historic lows. The supply of existing homes for sale as of the end of February was 980,000 units, representing a 2.6-month supply.
Home prices also fell last month; the report said the median existing-home price for all housing types in February was $363,000, a decline of 0.2% from February 2022.
