A report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday showed a sharp pullback by existing home sales in the U.S. in the month March.

NAR said existing home sales plunged by 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 4.19 million in March after surging by 9.5 percent to a rate of 4.38 million in February. Economists had expected existing home sales to slump to a rate of 4.20 million.

“Though rebounding from cyclical lows, home sales are stuck because interest rates have not made any major moves,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “There are nearly six million more jobs now compared to pre-COVID highs, which suggests more aspiring home buyers exist in the market.”

The pullback by existing home sales partly reflected weakness in the West and South, where existing home sales plummeted by 8.2 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively.

Existing home sales in the Midwest also tumbled by 1.9 percent, while existing home sales in the Northeast surged by 4.2 percent.

The report also said housing inventory at the end of March totaled 1.11 million units, up 4.7 percent from 1.06 million units in February and up 14.4 percent from 970,000 units a year ago.

The unsold inventory represents 3.2 months of supply at the current sales pace, up from 2.9 months in February and 2.7 months in March 2023.

NAR also said the median existing home price was $393,500 in March, an increase of 4.8 percent compared to $375,300 in the same month a year ago.

Next Tuesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on new home sales in the month of March.

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