Home Sales Increase Year-Over-Year Despite Month of March Decline

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has reported that existing-home sales fell in March following a February that had significant nationwide gains. Total existing-homes sales are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, declined 8.5% from February to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.27 million in March. Despite the decline, overall sales increased year-over-year for the ninth straight month, up 0.8% from a year ago. In prepared remarks NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun said “Unfortunately, we knew home sales would wane in March due to the coronavirus outbreak. More temporary interruptions to home sales should be expected in the next couple of months, though home prices will still likely rise.”