March 2024
U.S. existing-home sales improved for the second month in a row, jumping 9.5% to
a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million units, exceeding economists’
expectations and marking the largest monthly gain in a year, according to the
National Association of REALTORS®(NAR). The rebound in home sales comes amid
fluctuating mortgage rates and elevated sales prices, indicating there is plenty of
buyer demand heading into the spring selling season.
New Listings were up 8.9 percent to 1,618. Pending Sales increased 7.4 percent to
1,382, the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year gains. Inventory grew 34.5
percent to 2,458 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 2.7 percent to $271,241. Days
on Market increased 17.8 percent to 53 days. Months Supply of Inventory was up
43.8 percent to 2.3 months, indicating that supply increased relative to demand.
The recent surge in home sales was likely due to a dip in mortgage rates in
December and an increase in housing supply nationwide. According to NAR, total
inventory grew 5.9% month-over-month and 10.3% year-over-year to 1.07 million
units, for a 2.9 months’ supply at the current sales pace. Buyer demand remains
robust, and the limited supply of inventory helped push the median existing-home
sales price up 5.7% year-over-year to $384,500, the eighth consecutive month of
annual price increases.
Information courtesy of CMLS*
