Existing Home Sales Drop

Nationwide unit sales of existing single-family homes declined 5.9% in March from the prior month and also fell 2.4% from a year earlier, as the median sale price posted a 2.7% annual increase to $403,700, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

The trade group said about 4 million single-family homes, including townhouses and condominiums, were sold during the month, marking the slowest March pace since 2009 based on seasonally adjusted annual figures.

“Home buying and selling remained sluggish in March due to the affordability challenges associated with high mortgage rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “Residential housing mobility, currently at historical lows, signals the troublesome possibility of less economic mobility for society.”

Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist at forecasting firm Oxford Economics, said March sales trends reversed a surprise uptick posted in February, as for-sale inventory rose sharply from a year earlier. “We expect sales to remain sluggish through the rest of 2025, with elevated mortgage rates alongside a weaker economy weighing on activity,” Vanden Houten said in a statement.

Other analysts have cited lingering high borrowing costs and overall economic uncertainty among factors clouding buyer confidence and keeping prospective sellers on the sidelines. Still, the government reported this week that March sales of newly built single-family houses increased 7.4% from the prior month and topped the year-earlier figure by 6%.

Source: CoStar News, April 24, 2025