Following February’s 3.9% drop, March existing home sales roared back (up 4.4% MoM – the fastest growth since Dec 2015) to the highest since Feb 2007 at 5.71 million SAAR. Inventories tumbled (for the 22nd month in a row) and prices rose (for the 61st month in a row) as affordability issues remain ignored (for now).
It seems, unlike 2013, that rising rates are not affecting demand for existing homes at all… (yet)
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The Details
- March sales rose in three of four regions, including a 3.4 percent increase in the South and a 1.6 percent drop in the West
- At the current pace, it would take 3.8 months to sell the homes on the market, unchanged from February; Realtors group considers less than a five months’ supply as consistent with a tight market
- Single-family home sales increased 4.3 percent last month to an annual rate of 5.08 million
- Purchases of condominium and co-op units rose 5 percent to a 630,000 pace
- First-time buyers accounted for 32 percent of all sales in March, unchanged from February
- Homes sold in 34 days, compared with 45 days in February and 47 days in March 2016
The median existing-home price for all housing types in March was $236,400, up 6.8 percent from March 2016 ($221,400). March’s price increase marks the 61st consecutive month of year-over-year gains.
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With the high-end dominating the price appreciation…
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Inventory of available properties fell 6.6 percent from March 2016 to 1.83 million, marking the 22nd straight year-over-year decline.
“This is a very broad-based recovery†in the housing market, Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said at a press briefing accompanying the report.
“Both sales as well as prices are running very solidly,†and “buyers are not being deterred by these affordability challenges.â€
Policy changes could “quickly change†the direction of housing in the second half, he said.
