U.S. Existing Home Sales Pull Back More Than Expected In March

(RTTNews) - After reporting a sharp increase in U.S. existing home sales in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Thursday showing existing home sales pulled back by more than expected in the month of March.

NAR said existing home sales slumped by 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.44 million in March after spiking by 13.8 percent to a revised rate of 4.55 million in February.

Economists had expected existing home sales to decrease to a rate of 4.50 million from the 4.58 million originally reported for the previous month.

"Home sales are trying to recover and are highly sensitive to changes in mortgage rates," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Yet, at the same time, multiple offers on starter homes are quite common, implying more supply is needed to fully satisfy demand. It's a unique housing market."

The report said total housing inventory at the end of March was 980,000 units, up 1.0 percent from 970,000 units in February and up 5.4 percent from 930,000 units a year ago.

The unsold inventory represents 2.6 months of supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from February but up from 2.0 months in March 2022.

NAR also said the median existing home price for all housing types was $375,700 in March, up 3.3 percent from $363,600 in February but down 0.9 percent from $379,300 a year ago.

"Home prices continue to rise in regions where jobs are being added and housing is relatively affordable," Yun noted. "However, the more expensive areas of the country are adjusting to lower prices."

Next Tuesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on new home sales in the month of March.