Home sales at rise in US..

Sales of existing homes in the U.S. rose 7.6% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million sales , which is higher than expected sales of 5.6 million , according to data released Monday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR ) . The surprise increase is nonetheless viewed as an anomaly, since hundreds of thousands of buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit to the buyer , which expired at the end of April. Any interpretation of these figures to the effect that the economy is picking the best would be a mistake , according to Steven Ricchiuto , chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA .

In addition , stocks jumped 11.5 % to 4.04 million homes last month , an increase ” that was not welcome, ” according to Lawrence Yun , NAR chief economist. The pressure of Realtors can not determine what caused the increase . If due to a larger number of sellers who broke into the market because they need money , prices could hit down, says Yun.

The number of homes for sale typically increases in April , but the gain this year is stronger than usual. Inventories of houses suggest that higher prices will not increase much next year or two . Nor does Mr. Yun expected to fall too , noting that the trend in selling prices has stabilized over the last four months. According to NAR data as reported by Bloomberg , the median price of a house is up 4 % from last year to $ 173,000. Note that sales for the month of March were revised up slightly , from 5.35 to 5.36 million homes.