Low mortgage rates helped fuel a substantial increase to the existing home sales rate in the United States in February, according to the National Association of Realtors. However, the positive housing trend does not reflect the results of social quarantines and stock market turmoil brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, which the organization says has "undoubtedly" slowed down buyer activity.

The national existing home sales rate—which includes single-family homes, condominiums, townhomes, and co-ops—stood at a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.77 million for the month. This was up 6.5 percent from January and 7.2 percent from February 2019, the eighth straight year-over-year increase.

"February's sales of over 5 million homes were the strongest since February 2007," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. "I would attribute that to the incredibly low mortgage rates and the steady release of a pent-up housing demand that was built over recent years."

According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage in February was 3.47 percent, down from 3.62 percent in January. The average rate for 2019 as a whole was 3.94 percent.

Low rates continued to provide some relief for affordability concerns as the median home price increased for the 96th consecutive month. In the U.S. as a whole, the median price for an existing home sold in February was $270,100 – an 8 percent year-over-year increase.

Single-family home sales had a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.17 million, up 7.3 percent from both the previous month and previous year. The median price for this type of property rose 8.1 percent from February 2019 to $272,400.

Condominium and co-op sales were proceeding at an annual rate of 600,000 units, on par with January's sales but up 7.1 percent from the previous year. The median price for this property increased 7 percent to $249,900.

Housing inventory increased in February, with 1.47 million properties listed for sale at the end of the month. This was up 5 percent from January, although it also represented a year-over-year drop of 9.8 percent.

The typical home sold in February had been on the market for 36 days. This was seven days faster than in January and eight days faster than in February 2019. Forty-seven percent of homes sold in February had been on the market for less than a month.

Thirty-two percent of the month's sales went to buyers purchasing their first home. This was unchanged from both the previous month and previous year.

"For the past couple of months, we have seen the number of buyers grow as more people enter the market," said Yun. "Once the social distancing and quarantine measures are relaxed, we should see this temporary pause evaporate, and will have potential buyers return with the same enthusiasm."

Seventeen percent of February's sales went to individual investors or buyers purchasing a second home, unchanged from the previous month and up from 16 percent in the previous year. These buyers typically make up a large share of purchases that don't require financing, and these all-cash transactions represented 20 percent of February's existing home sales – down from 21 percent in January and 23 percent in February 2019.

Distressed sales continued to make up a small portion of existing home sales, with foreclosures and short sales representing just 2 percent of the month's transactions.

The Northeast was the only region with some slowdown in its existing home sales, with its annual rate of 700,000 representing a 4.1 percent drop from January. However, this was also a year-over-year increase of 2.9 percent. The median sale price in the region increased 8.2 percent from the previous year to $295,400.

The South had a similar boost in home values, with the median sale price of $238,000 also representing a year-over-year increase of 8.2 percent. The annual sales rate of 2.52 million was up 7.2 percent from the previous month and 8.2 percent from the previous year.

In the Midwest, the sales rate inched up 0.8 percent from January and rose 4 percent from February 2019 to 1.29 million. The median home price increased 7.9 percent to $203,700.

The West experienced an enormous boost in home sales, which shot up 18.9 percent from the previous month and 11.5 percent from the previous year to an annual rate of 1.26 million. The median home price in the region rose 8.1 percent to $410,100.