U.S. Existing Home Sales Weaken During March
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Sales return to October level.
- Decline occurs throughout most regions of country.
- Home prices improve to five-month high.
Sales of existing homes fell 2.4% during March (-22.0% y/y) to 4.44 million units (SAAR) after strengthening 13.8% to 4.55 million during February, revised from 4.580 million. Sales remained up from the January low of 4.00 million. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected March sales of 4.49 million units.
Single-family home sales fell 2.7% (-21.1% y/y) to 3.99 million units after rising 14.2% to 4.10 million in February. Sales remained 31.8% lower than the high of 5.85 million in October 2020. Condo and co-op sales held steady (-28.6% y/y) at 450,000 after rising 9.8% in February. Sales have fallen 40% from the January 2021 high of 750,000.
Sales fell m/m across most of the country. In the Midwest, sales slid 5.5% (-17.6% y/y) to 1.03 million after a 13.5% February improvement. Sales in the West declined 3.5% (-30.5% y/y) to 820,000 last month following an 18.1% February rise. Sales in the South also declined in March by 1.0% (-20.4% y/y) to 2.07 million after rising 14.8% in the prior month. Sales in the Northeast held steady (-21.2% y/y) at 520,000 after a 4.0% February rise.
The number of existing homes for sale (NSA) rose 1.0% (+5.4% y/y) to 980,000 in March after falling 1.0% in February. The supply of homes on the market (NSA) held steady at 2.6 months at the current selling rate, but remained higher than the record low of 1.6 months reached in January of last year. These figures date back to January 1999.
The median price of an existing home (NSA) rose 3.3% (-0.9% y/y) to $375,700 following a 0.7% February increase. They were 9.2% below the June peak of $413,800. Prices rose last month in each region of the country. The median price of an existing single-family home rose 3.2% (-1.4% y/y) to $380,000 while the price of existing co-ops and condos rose 4.6% (2.1% y/y) at $337,700.
The data on existing home sales, prices and affordability are compiled by the National Association of Realtors. The data on single-family home sales extend back to February 1968. Total sales and price data and regional sales can be found in Haver's USECON database. Regional price and affordability data and national inventory data are available in the REALTOR database. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey, reported in the AS1REPNA database.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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