LOS ANGELES (AP) — The spring homebuying season is off to a sluggish start as home shoppers contend with elevated mortgage rates and rising prices.
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell 4.3% in March from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.19 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s the first monthly decline in sales since December and follows a nearly 10% monthly sales jump in February.
Existing home sales also fell 3.7% compared with March last year. The latest sales still came in slightly higher than the 4.16 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.
A modest pullback in mortgage rates early this year helped lift home sales in January and February, but rates mostly ticked up in February and March, when many of the home sales that were finalized last month would have taken place.
The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits holds steady as labor market remains strong
Posts misrepresent a photo of a Ukrainian soldier balancing on his prosthetic limbs
Western leaders in Kyiv, G7 pledge support for Ukraine on war anniversary
Former world's oldest dog stripped of title
Rybakina, Vondroušová into Stuttgart quarters while Jabeur out
50 years later, a Braves fan shares long
Hong Kong jails Portuguese national for overseas social media posts — Radio Free Asia
Why Amylyx is pulling ALS drug Relyvrio from US market after study
Husband of former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon is arrested again in party finance probe
Children race to collect marshmallows dropped from a helicopter at a Detroit
The Arizona Coyotes are officially headed to Salt Lake City
New WIC rules include more money for fruits and veggies. They also expand food choices