WASHINGTON — U.S. home sales bloomed in March after a brutal winter, a sign of possible newfound momentum for housing.
Sales of existing homes jumped 6.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. The gains were solid enough to suggest that housing might be returning to stable footing after enduring a boom, a bust and a stubbornly tepid recovery over the past dozen years.
Still, it remains unclear whether March’s robust gains can be sustained. Much of last month’s sales growth came from the Northeast and Midwest — the areas that were hardest hit by winter storms and that were bound to recover as the weather warmed. It’s possible that the March increase might amount to just a one-month blip.
