US property market finally on the rise

New US home sales rose for the first time in February 2009 after seven months of decline, indicating that the market may have finally hit bottom.

According to the US Commerce Department, new home sales climbed by 4.7% in February 2009. This brought the annualised rate to 337,000 compared to 322,000 in January 2009.

Just last week, separate data showed new housing starts also rose in February 2009 by 22% compared to January 2009 – the first improvement in eight months.