RE/MAX was out with its national housing report for March on Monday, which showed that the virus shutdown in the second half of March dampened, but did not kill, existing home sales in March. March home sales increased 2.7% year-over-year in the report's 52 markets – a hint of what might have been.
March was the fourth consecutive month with year-over-year increases in U.S. home sales – a streak not seen since 2016. However, the report showed:
- March's year-over-year sales growth of less than 3% was significantly less than December 2019 through February 2020 where year-over-year sales increases averaged 10%.
- The sequential monthly growth in sales from February to March is typically the largest month-over-month percentage increase each year, averaging 32%. This year, March sales increased just 23.8% over February – the lowest such increase for this time period in the report's nearly 12-year history.
Inventory levels in March continued to constrict amid healthy buyer interest, which helped drive further price increases. Year-over-year, March inventory declined 14.9%, continuing a streak that began in July 2019. Meanwhile, the Median Sales Price of $265,000 was 7.7% higher than a year ago, setting a report record for the month of March. A record low for March was the 54 Days on Market, while 2.7 Months Supply of Inventory was typical for the month, based on the past four years.
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