Existing-home sales up 6.8%
Existing-home sales increased in March with each region of the United States seeing 6% to 7% gains, as buyers react to the home buyer tax credit and favorable affordability conditions in the housing market.
The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales for March were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.35 million, up 6.8% from February’s figure.
Compared with a year ago, existing-home sales saw a 16.1% increase.
“Sales have been above year-ago levels for nine straight months, and inventory has trended down from year-ago levels for 20 months running,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “The home buyer tax credit has been a resounding success, as these underlying trends point to a broad stabilization in home prices. This is preserving perhaps $1 trillion in largely middle class housing wealth that may have been wiped out without the housing stimulus measure,” he said.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 6% to an annual pace of 890,000 in March and are 25.4% higher than a year ago. In the Midwest, sales rose 7.2% in March to a pace of 1.19 million homes, a 15.5% increase from last year. The South saw a 7.1% increase in sales to a pace of 1.97 million in March, a 13.9% increase over last year. The West saw a 6.6% increase in existing-home sales to 1.30 million in March and are 14.0% over last year's figure.
The national median price for all housing types was $170,700 in March, a 0.4% increase from last year. The NAR said distressed homes, which are typically sold at a 25% discount, accounted for 35% of last month’s sales, unchanged from February.