US existing home sales drop by more than expected in February

According to the National Association of Realtors, in seasonally adjusted terms the annualised pace of existing hoome sales in the US fell by 6.6% month-on-month to reach 6.22m.

That was slower than the 6.5m clip that economists had penciled-in, but 9.1% higher than a year ago.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun attributed the drop to "historically-low inventory" but stressed that the market was still outperforming pre-pandemic levels.

Existing home sales were higher across all regions year-on-year.

In parallel, the number of homes available for sales had shrunk by 29.5% on the year earlier figure to stand at 1.03m units - a record decline.

Similarly, properties were staying on the market for just 20 days, which was also a record low.

Going the other way, prices had bounded higher by 15.8% to $313,000, with rises seen in all regions.

Yun did however caution that a possible slowdown in growth lay ahead, as higher prices and higher mortgage rates "cut" into home affordability.