Existing-home sales fell for the second straight month matching expectations from economists, according to the National Association of Realtor’s existing-home sales report…(NAR)
- M-O-M: Existing-home sales fell 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million.
- Y-O-Y: Existing sales were down 4.5% when compared to the same time last year.
NOTE: Economists were right on the money projecting a decline to 5.77M.
Regionally, the South continues to lead the way even with a 3.0% month-over-month decline to a rate of 2.62M…
- The Midwest held on to the number two spot even with a 4.5% decline to a rate of 1.27M followed closely by the West at 1.21M(-4.7%) and the Northeast at 670K (-2.9%).
Despite talks of a slowdown, it is still a seller’s market as the median existing-home price hit a new record at $375,300, up 15.0% from March 2021.
- Regionally, the West still has the highest median price at $519,900, up 5.4% from March 2021. The Northeast is number two up 6.8% to $390,200 followed by the South, which had the biggest year-over-year jump, at $339,00(+21.2%), and the Midwest at $271,00 (+10.4%).
The all-important inventory reading was up 11.8% from February to 950,000 units, this is still down 9.5% from one year ago.
- Unsold inventory sits at a 2.0-month supply at the present sales pace, up from 1.7 months in February but down from 2.1 months in March 2021.
- Properties remained on the market for 17 days in March, down from 18 days in February and 18 days in March 2021.
NOTE: Despite the talk of first-time homeowners being priced out of the market, First-time buyers were responsible for 30% of sales in March. This was actually up from 29% in February but down from 32% in March 2021.
As mortgage rates rose in March, not surprisingly, all-cash sales rose as well. They were up to 28% of all transactions in March, up from both the 25% recorded in February and from 23% in March 2021.
- Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at NAR, note, “With rising mortgage rates, cash sales made up a larger fraction of transactions, climbing to the highest share since 2014,”