U.S. existing-home sales improved for the second month in a row, jumping 9.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million units, exceeding economists’ expectations and marking the largest monthly gain in a year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®(NAR). The rebound in home sales comes amid fluctuating mortgage rates and elevated sales prices, indicating there is plenty of buyer demand heading into the spring selling season.
New Jersey Stats for March
• Single Family Closed Sales were down 19.3 percent to 3,819.
• Townhouse-Condo Closed Sales were down 7.9 percent to 1,468.
• Adult Communities Closed Sales were down 18.2 percent to 530.
• Single Family Median Sales Price increased 14.3 percent to $520,000.
• Townhouse-Condo Median Sales Price increased 11.4 percent to $390,000.
• Adult Communities Median Sales Price increased 12.9 percent to $350,000.
The recent surge in home sales was likely due to a dip in mortgage rates in December and an increase in housing supply nationwide. According to NAR, total inventory grew 5.9% month-over-month and 10.3% year-over-year to 1.07 million units, for a 2.9 months’ supply at the current sales pace. Buyer demand remains robust, and the limited supply of inventory helped push the median existing-home sales price up 5.7% year-over-year to $384,500, the eighth consecutive month of annual price increases.