The National Association of Realtors says its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 5.3 percent from a month earlier to a reading of 102.9.
It was the highest level since October and a 21 percent increase from the same month a year earlier. February's reading was revised upward slightly to 97.7. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected the index would rise 4 percent to 101.5.
The index provides an early measurement of sales activity because there is usually a one- to two- month lag between a sales contract and a deal.
