U.S. existing-home sales declined 2.4 percent month-over-month as of last measure, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), reversing February’s sales gain of 14.5%. Fluctuations in mortgage interest rates have caused buyers to pullback, with pending sales dropping 5.2% monthover-month. Meanwhile, the median existing-home sales price declined for the second month in a row, falling 0.9% nationally from the same time last year, the largest year-over-year decline since January 2012, according to NAR.
New Listings were down 29.2 percent for single family homes and 40.7 percent for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. Pending Sales decreased 27.5 percent for single family homes and 22.2 percent for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. The Median Sales Price was down 23.2 percent to $1,575,000 for single family homes and 13.7 percent to $1,177,500 for Condo/TIC/Coop properties.
Months Supply of Inventory increased 35.7 percent for single family units and 3.1 percent for Condo/TIC/Coop units.
Housing inventory remains tight nationwide, with only 980,000 units available for sale heading into April, a 5.4% increase from one year earlier, although the number of homes for sale is down compared to the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic. The lack of existing inventory continues to impact home sales, and with only 2.6 months’ supply of homes at last measure, competition for available properties remains strong, especially in certain price categories, with multiple offers occurring on about a third of properties, according to NAR.