existing home sales edge higher in March

Existing Home Sales Edge Higher in March, due to increased buying in less expensive markets and warm temperatures.... Rest of the article.....

The pace of existing home sales in the United States picked up by 0.3 percent in March, defying expectations for a slowdown, due to increased buying in some less expensive markets and in part to warm weather, a trade group said on Tuesday.
Sales of existing U.S. homes rose to a 6.92 million-unit rate in March from February's downwardly revised 6.90 million-unit pace, according to the National Association of Realtors. The existing home sales figure includes both single-family homes and condos.

Analysts had expected home resales to slow to a 6.7 million-unit rate from February's originally reported 6.91 million-unit pace due to rising mortgage rates that have made purchases less affordable.

While the Realtors' chief economist called the rise in existing home sales "encouraging," he said it was probably not sustainable given rising mortgage rates.

The rise in total sales was driven by a 0.3 percent increase in single-family home sales and a 0.2 percent gain in condo sales.

Inventories soared 7 percent in March, leaving a record 3.19 million existing homes available for sale at the end of the month. That equates to 5.5 months' supply at the current sales pace, the largest inventory since July 1998, when supply equaled 5.6 months' worth.

The national median home price rose 7.4 percent from a year ago to $218,000.

from: Homes Sales Rise