By Sarah Chaney

The number of houses going under contract rose in February before the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S., the National Association of Realtors said Monday. Here are the report's key takeaways:

--Pending home sales, contract signings for purchases of previously owned homes, increased 2.4% in February to 111.5. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 0.5% increase in February pending home sales.

--Pending home sales were up 9.4% in February from the same period a year earlier.

--Lawrence Yun, the trade group's chief economist, said, "February's pending sales figures show the housing market had been very healthy prior to the coronavirus-induced shutdown." He noted the data did not capture the impact from the coronavirus and quarantines.

Write to Sarah Chaney at sarah.chaney@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 30, 2020 10:15 ET (14:15 GMT)