LOS ANGELES — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in January from the previous month to the strongest pace in a year with homebuyers encouraged by a modest pullback in mortgage rates and more properties on the market.
Sales rose on a monthly basis in February for the second month in a row, but fell 3.3% from a year earlier. While the supply of homes on the market remains below the historical average, the typical increase in homes for sale that happens ahead of the spring homebuying season gave homebuyers a wider selection of properties to choose from.