By Kathless Madigan | The Wall Street Journal
The National Association of Realtors reports on February sales of existing homes on Monday, and the Commerce Department releases last month’s sales of new homes on Tuesday. New-home purchases offer more bang to the economy since they represent new construction. These sales have picked up from the lows of the recession, but have not broken through a 400,000 to 480,000 range over the past 18 months. Demand for new homes will have to speed up if residential construction is to offer more of a lift to the overall economy.
