USA Today
WASHINGTON — A real estate group says sales of previously occupied homes sank by an unexpectedly large amount from February to March, but the median sale price rose as mortgage rates fell.
The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that home sales fell 3% in March from February, to an annual rate of 4.57 million, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.71 million units in February. Sales had been expected to fall to an annual pace of 4.7 million units, according to Thomson Reuters.
The median sale price plunged to $175,200, down 12.4% from $200,100 a year earlier, but up from $168,200 in February. While median sale prices typically rise slightly in early spring, the 4% monthly increase was larger than expected.
But the median price was 12.4% below a year ago.
Some good news: The inventory of existing homes for sale fell to 3.74 million from the 3.80 million overstock reported for February.
And mortgage rates fell in the latest week, nudging closer to a recent record low, helped by government efforts to bring rates down to levels that will spur demand in the hard-hit housing market.
Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.80% the week ended April 23, down from the previous week’s 4.82%, according to a survey released Thursday by home funding company Freddie Mac.
Three weeks earlier, mortgage rates were 4.78%, lowest since Freddie Mac started its survey in 1971.
“Although long-term mortgage rates eased slightly this week, ARM rates remain elevated relative to those fixed-rate mortgages,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said.
The battered U.S. housing market, which is in the midst of its worst downturn since the Great Depression, is both the source and a major casualty of the credit crisis.
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Contributing: Associated Press; Reuters
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