New-Home Sales Jump 4.7 Percent

New home sales rebounded unexpectedly last month, but were still the second-worst on record and remained well below last year’s levels, according to data released Wednesday 3/25/09.  The Commerce Department said sales rose 4.7 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 from an upwardly revised January figure of 322,000. Even after the revision to January’s sales results, the month remained the worst on records dating back to 1963.  Nobody knows where the bottom or top of anything actually is until we are beyond it.  However when sales begin to increase from very low levels, that can be a sign that we may have hit bottom.  Time will tell where we actually bottomed out and every local market is different, however the signs are there that we may be at or close to the turning point.