Existing home sales rise modestly in February

Housing sales remain sluggish, but prices continue to rise.

The National Association of Realtors says existing home sales in February rose 1.2 percent from January’s pace. Total existing home sales were up 4.7 percent from a year ago, but median selling prices last month were up 7.5 percent from February 2014.

It was the 36th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains and the largest since last February.

Insufficient supply appears to be hampering prospective buyers in several areas of…