Data from the National Association of Realtors on Thursday showed that U.S. home sales declined in March, with prices falling as well. This marks a particularly tepid start to the spring homebuying season, with buyers already facing a surge in mortgage rates and a near-record low number of properties on the market.
Existing home sales fell to 4.44 million, a decline of 2.4% compared to February and a 22% fall from March last year. According to FactSet, economists were expecting 4.5 million home sales for the month.
The number of homes readily available for purchase on the market rose by 1% from February to 980,000 properties. This marks a 5.4% increase from March of 2022. The national median home price for March 2023 was $375,000; a decline of 0.9% from March 2022.
Although the median home price was on the decline, mortgage rates continued to rise in March. By the second week of March, the 30-year mortgage hit 6.73%