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.
Gunmen ambush vehicle carrying customs officials in northwest Pakistan, killing 4 officers
China slams harassment of ship crew by US Customs
Boat found adrift with over 10 bodies in northern Brazil
REVEALED: NBC 'plans to put heart
FM: Mutual respect key to ties
Xi Meets Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister
Xinhua Commentary: Who is posing a dire threat to the global economy?
Gunman shot himself and wasn't killed by officer, chief says
Feature: How Chinese are helping Suriname turn around its farming fortunes
Republicans file lawsuit challenging Evers's partial vetoes to literacy bill
World's highest UHV transmission tower completes construction