US: Strong existing home sales report - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura note that US existing home sales in February rose 3.0% m-o-m to an annualized rate of 5540k, above expectations (Nomura +0.2% m-o-m to 5390k, Consensus: +0.4% m-o-m to 5400k), after falling 3.2% in January.

Key Quotes

“Single-family home sales rose strongly by 4.2%, offsetting a 6.5% drop in multifamily home sales. Sales by region were mixed. They fell 12.3% in the Northeast, but jumped 11.4% in the West and were up 6.6% in the Midwest. The months’ supply indicator remained at 3.4 months, highlighting lean supply relative to demand. The number of homes on the market remained very low compared with historical standards, down 8.1% y-o-y in February. A shortage of supply will likely weigh on the sales pace in the near to medium term.”