Sales of previously-owned homes in the US fell in March from a one-year high, underscoring the lingering impact of high mortgage rates and elevated prices.
Contract closings fell 4.3% from the previous month to a 4.19 million annualized rate, according to National Association of Realtors data issued Thursday. The pace was consistent with the median estimate of economists polled by Bloomberg.
At the current sales pace, selling all available properties would take 3.2 months, compared to a 2.7-month supply in March of last year. Realtors believe that anything less than five months of supply indicates a tight market.
March month sale pace
At the current monthly sales rate, that equates to around 3.2 months of supply.
Sales fell in the Midwest, South, and West, but increased in the Northeast for the first time since November 2023.
Year-over-year, sales decreased in all regions.
Existing-home sales had increased in February and January, lifting hope for a better spring home buying season.
In March 2023, residential properties were on the market for an average of 33 days, which is an increase from 29 days in March 2023 but a decrease from 38 days in February.
In March, 28% of transactions were made entirely using cash, which is an increase from 27% a year ago but a decrease from 33% in February.
“It’s not surprising that existing home sales have returned to disappointing levels,” says Max Slyusarchuk, the CEO and creator of A&D Mortgage, in a statement. Since there is a limited supply of these houses and interest rates are expected to remain historically high in the near future, we don’t anticipate seeing many more encouraging statistics in this specific housing sector anytime soon. In contrast, we anticipate that new house sales will do considerably better in the upcoming months.