US March Existing Home Sales Down 3.6%

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on the 13th (local time), March US existing home sales were tallied at 3.98 million units, seasonally adjusted and annualized. This represents a 3.6% decrease from the previous month. March US existing home sales fell short of market expectations of 4.06 million units.

Total housing inventory at the end of March stood at 1.36 million units, up 3.0% from the previous month. At the current sales pace, the supply of existing homes for sale was 4.1 months, an increase from the prior month. The median price of existing homes was $408,800, up 1.4% from the same period last year. This marks the 33rd consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, attributed the slowdown in home purchases to low consumer confidence and moderating job growth. NAR has lowered its forecast for existing home sales growth to 4% for the year.