Having dropped 7.2 percent in February, the seasonally adjusted pace of existing-home sales across the U.S. ticked down another 2.7 percent in March to an annual rate of 5.77 million sales and was down 4.5 percent on a year-over-year basis, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and marking the eighth straight month with a year-over-year decline.
At the same time, the number of existing homes on the market at the end of last month, net of all sales, increased 11.8 percent but was still 9.5 percent lower than at the same time last year while the unsold inventory of new homes on the market has climbed to a 13-year high.
And while the median existing-home sale price last month ($375,300) was 15.0 percent higher than it was at the same time last year ($326,300) and a record high, that’s with an ongoing shift in the mix of the homes that have sold.