Annuity sales through U.S. banks fell to historic lows in January, then bounced back to a six-month high in February, according to the Kehrer-LIMRA Monthly Bank Annuity Sales Survey.

Both fixed and variable annuities saw double-digit declines at the start of the year, with fixed annuities hitting a five-year low at just over $1 billion in monthly sales in January, the lowest monthly sales level since February 2007. Variable sales didn’t fare much better, dropping to their lowest level since January 2011.

Total sales fell 13 percent to $2.3 billion in January from December 2011, then rose 30 percent to hit $3 billion at the end of February for the first time since August 2011.

"We typically see this pattern at the start of the year. January sales numbers have come in between 3 and 25 percent below December for as long as we’ve been tracking sales on a monthly basis," Janet Cappelletti, associate research director at Windsor, Conn.-based Kehrer-LIMRA, said in a new release.

Variable annuity sales at financial institutions dropped 14 percent from December levels to $1.4 billion in January, then climbed to $1.8 billion in February.

After plummeting in January, bank-sold fixed annuities climbed 26 percent in February to $1.2 billion.

Mutual funds sold at financial institutions rose 32 percent in January to $5.1 billion. February sales leveled off at $4.9 billion.