Existing home sales fell in March

Existing home sales fell by 4.3% in March to 4.19 million, down 3.7% from March 2023. That’s according to NAR’s latest update. Here are the other key takeaways for March:
  • The median existing-home sales price was $393,500, 4.8% higher than a year ago.
  • March saw the 9th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains and the highest price gain ever for the month of March.
  • Total housing inventory was up 14.4% from a year ago, increasing to 1.11 million units from 1.07 million units.
  • There is a 3.2-month supply of unsold existing homes on the market, higher than last March when there was a 2.7-month supply. Typically, a 5-or-6-month supply is a sign of a healthy market.

Our take
So far this spring, more sellers than buyers have got off the sidelines and got into the market. This has closed the gap between supply and demand, and caused for-sale inventory to rise again. Unsold inventory is higher now than it was this time last year. Nonetheless, home sales slowed in March after increasing in February. Despite the slowdown, sales remain above expectations, even though mortgage rates have moved higher than expected.