The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their March 2020 existing-home sales report. What was published was what everyone knew was coming in that existing-home sales dropped throughout the nation. The Coronavirus pandemic largely began impacting the housing industry in March and existing home sales feel 8.5% from the February numbers.
Existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, condos/coops and townhouses dropped to an annual rate of 5.27 million. Sales at this point was actually up .08% year over year however we don’t see this trend lasting heading into the next report. Sales in March 2019 was at 5.23 million.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR states “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.” He remained optimistic that technology will help with home sales heading into late Spring. He explains “Despite the social distancing restrictions, with many Realtors conducting virtual open home tours and with mortgage rates on the decline, a number of first-time buyers were still able to purchase housing last month.
Home prices remained steady for the month. Median existing-home price for all housing types in March was at $280,600 which in an increase of8.0% from March 2019 ($259,700). Prices had increase in all regions. Inventory at the end of March was up 2.7% to 1.5 million units. The amount was 10.2% year over year however (1.67 million). With respect to inventory, Yun says “Earlier in the year, we watched inventory gradually tick upward but with the current quarantine recommendations in place, fewer sellers are listing homes, which will limit buyer choices. Significantly more listings are needed and more will come on to the market once the economy steadily reopens.”
The regional breakdown is as follows:
Northeast: Existing home sales dropped 7.1%, to annual rate of 650,000. Median price in the region was $300,400, an increase of 8.3% from March 2019.
South: The South saw a decrease of 9.1% projecting an annual rate of 2.29 million in March. This is an increase of 0.9% year over year. The median price for the South region was $245,100. This is an increase of 7.5% increase from the same time last year.
Midwest: Existing-home sales in the region fell 3.1% to an annual rate of 1.25 million. This was increase of 4.2% from a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $219,700. This was a 9.7% increase for the same time last year in March 2019.
West: The West saw the most significant drop as existing home sales fell 13.6% leading to annual rate of 1.08 million in March. It is a drop of 0.9% decline from March 2019. Median price in the West was $420,600, an increase of 8.0% from last year.
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