MAR EXISTING HOME SALES DOWN 2% To 4.93mln
Mar. Existing Home Sales fell 2% to an annual rate of 4.93mln, from 5.03mln in Feb. The 4.93mln in Mar. was 19.3% lower than the 6.11mln annual rate last year.
The nationwide median existing home price was $200,700 in Mar., 7.7% lower than the $217,400 total a year earlier.
Total housing inventory grew 1% to 4.06mln which represents a 9.9-month supply at the current sales pace.
The rate on a 30yr fixed-rate mortgage grew to 5.97% in Mar. from 5.92% in Feb.
Mar. Single family homes sales fell 2.7% to 4.35mln units annualized from 4.47mln in Feb. The median existing family home price was $198,200 in Mar., a 8.3% drop from a year earlier.
Existing condo sales in Mar. grew 3.6% to 580,000 units from 560,000 units in Feb. and 779,000 units a year ago.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said tighter lending standards are preventing “on the fence” buyers from taking advantage of historically low rates. Yun said the 30yr mortgage rate may be near a bottom and further FED rate reductions are not likely to lower mortgage rates. He even cautioned the FED that additional rate cuts could allow inflation to creep in, pushing mortgage rates higher.