March Home Sales: 2009 Lows
- The spring housing market is off to a sluggish start as higher mortgage rates and broader economic worries cool buyer demand.
- According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously owned homes fell 5.9% in March from February, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million units.
- The decline in existing home sales was widespread, affecting all regions.
Existing home sales plummeted in March, dropping 5.9% and hitting their slowest pace since 2009. This decline, revealed in new data, highlights the impact of high mortgage rates and economic concerns on the spring housing market. Affordability remains a important hurdle, even with rising inventory levels across the nation, particularly in the West. News Directory 3’s analysis of these existing home sales shows a complex market reacting to multiple pressures. Discover what this data means for buyers and sellers, and how these trends might evolve in the coming months.
Existing Home Sales Decline Amid High Mortgage rates
Updated May 31, 2025
The spring housing market is off to a sluggish start as higher mortgage rates and broader economic worries cool buyer demand. Existing home sales, a key indicator of housing market activity, experienced a significant drop in March.
According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously owned homes fell 5.9% in March from February, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million units. This marks the slowest March sales pace since 2009, reflecting the challenges facing potential homebuyers. The existing home sales numbers underscore the impact of affordability challenges on the housing market.
The decline in existing home sales was widespread, affecting all regions. The West, the nation’s most expensive region, saw the steepest drop, with sales down more than 9%. However, the West was the only region to see a year-over-year gain, driven by strong activity in the Rocky Mountain states, where job growth remains robust.
Lawrence yun, NAR’s chief economist, attributed the slowdown to high mortgage rates. “Home buying and selling remained sluggish in March due to the affordability challenges associated with high mortgage rates,” yun saeid.He also noted the potential long-term consequences, adding, “Residential housing mobility, currently at historical lows, signals the troublesome possibility of less economic mobility for society.”
Despite the sales slump, available listings have increased sharply. At the end of March, there were 1.33 million units for sale, nearly 20% more than in March 2024. This translates to a 4-month supply at the current sales pace, still considered lean. A balanced market typically has a 6-month supply.
The combination of increased inventory and slower sales is beginning to moderate price growth. The median price of an existing home sold in March was $403,700, an all-time high for the month, but only 2.7% higher than last march. This annual comparison has been shrinking since December, marking the smallest gain since August. The existing home sales data indicates a shift in market dynamics.
“In a stark contrast to the stock and bond markets, household wealth in residential real estate continues to reach new heights,” Yun said. “With real estate asset valuation at $52 trillion,according to the federal Reserve Flow of Funds,each percentage point gain in home prices adds more than $500 billion to the household balance sheet.”
first-time buyers accounted for 32% of the market in March, unchanged from the previous year, but still below the historical average of roughly 40%.All-cash sales decreased to 26% from 28% the year before, while investors maintained a steady 15% share of sales.
What’s next
Looking ahead, the NAR reports a rise in canceled contracts in March, a trend that could intensify given stock market volatility. Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union, anticipates further challenges: “March numbers are bad, but they’re likely to get worse,” Frick said.He cited high prices, mortgage rates, rising home furnishing costs due to tariffs, and increasing consumer anxiety over inflation and jobs as factors that may further dampen the housing market.