Existing-home sales reach 10-year high in March

Existing-home sales reached their highest pace since February 2007 in March, with only the West experiencing a sales decline.

Total existing-home sales jumped 4.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.71 million in March, up from a downwardly revised 5.47 million in February.

This is 5.9% above a year ago, unseating January as the strongest month of sales since February 2007 (5.79 million).

Single-family home sales were up 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million in March from 4.87 million in February, and are now 6.1% above last year.

"The early returns so far this spring buying season look very promising as a rising number of households dipped their toes into the market and were successfully able to close on a home last month," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. "Although finding available properties to buy continues to be a strenuous task for many buyers, there was enough of a monthly increase in listings in March for sales to muster a strong gain. Sales will go up as long as inventory does."

The median existing-home price was $236,400, up 6.8% from March 2016, while the median existing single-family home price was $237,800 in March, up 6.6%.

Total housing inventory at the end of March increased 5.8% to 1.83 million existing homes available for sale, but is still 6.6% lower than a year ago and has fallen year-over-year for 22 straight months. Unsold inventory represents a 3.8-month supply at the current sales pace.

Added Yun, "Bolstered by strong consumer confidence and underlying demand, home sales are up convincingly from a year ago nationally and in all four major regions despite the fact that buying a home has gotten more expensive over the past year."

Regionally, the Northeast and the Midwest carried the rest of the country, with increases of 10.1% and 9.2%, respectively. Sales rose 3.4% in the South and decreased 1.6% in the West.