For the second consecutive month, the sale of pre-owned residential properties escalated. The biggest month-over-month gain was in the Northeast.
Sales of existing U.S. single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-operatives during March came to 434,000, bringing to 1.066 million the year-to-date total.
Applying seasonal adjustments, last month’s annual rate of existing home sales worked out to 5.60 million, inching up a percent
from the previous month’s rate.
The National Association of Realtors, which reported the data Monday, said it was the second month in a row sales strengthened.
The modest gain came despite
challenging market conditions in most of the nation, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a written statement.
A more than 1 percent decrease, though, was recorded versus the downwardly revised level a year previous.
“The unwelcoming news is that while the healthy economy is generating sustained interest in buying a home this spring, sales are lagging year ago levels because supply is woefully low and home prices keep climbing above what some would-be buyers can afford,” Yun said.
The single-family annual rate in March 2018 was 4.99 million.
Yun said that a seasonal acceleration in buyer demand is being met by few new listings — cutting the time for a home to go under contract by 17 days compared to March 2017.
The Northeast saw the biggest improvement, climbing more than 6 percent to a 680,000 rate. A nearly 6 percent improvement was made in the Midwest, where the rate was 1.29 million.
The economist explained, “Robust gains last month in the Northeast and Midwest — a reversal from the weather-impacted declines seen in February — helped overall sales activity rise to its strongest pace since last November.”
In the South, however, the rate slipped less than a percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.40 million, while the West whithered 3 percent to 1.23 million.
“Although the strong job market and recent tax cuts are boosting the incomes of many households, speedy price growth is squeezing overall affordability in several markets – especially those out West,” Yun noted.
Last month’s U.S. inventory ended at 1.67 million, which worked out to 3.6-month supply.
The median sales price was $250,400, and the average was $290,100.
Time on the market sped up seven days from February to 30 days last month.
First-time buyer share widened to 30 percent from 29 percent the preceding month.
All-cash share fell to a fifth from 24 percent, and distressed share was unchanged at 4 percent.
