The sales of existing US homes rebounded from a 12-year low in February as distressed sales brought first-time buyers into the market in search of bargains.

Home resales rose by 5.1% to an annual rate of 4.72m in February from the month before, the National Association of Realtors said yesterday, but were down by 4.6% year-on-year. The median price of an existing home fell by 15.5% on the year to $165,400 (€121,000, £114,000), although it inched up from January’s median price of $164,800.

The results were better than economists expected.

Financial Times, Wall Street Journal