U.S. home sales jump 7.6% in April as buyers take advantage of expiring federal tax credit

Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. rose 7.6% in April over the prior month, a national group said Monday.

A federal tax credit that expired April 30 helped motivate buyers, as did cheap prices and low interest rates, the Washington-based National Assn. of Realtors said.

“The upswing in April existing-home sales was expected because of the tax credit inducement, and no doubt there will be some temporary fallback in the months immediately after it expires,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors group.

Homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million units in April from an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March, according to the Realtors group. Sales were up 22.8% from April 2009’s 4.70 million-unit pace.

Regionally, sales surged 21.1% over the prior month in the Northeast, 9.9% in the Midwest and 8.6% in the South. Sales fell 6.2% in the West.

LAtimes.com

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