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by Calculated Risk on 4/20/2022 10:12:00 AM

From the NAR: Existing-Home Sales Slip 2.7% in March

Existing-home sales decreased in March, marking two consecutive months of declines, according to the National Association of Realtors(R). Month-over-month, sales in March waned in three of the four major U.S. regions while holding steady in the West. Sales were down across each region year-over-year.

Total existing-home sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dipped 2.7% from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million in March. Year-over-year, sales fell 4.5% (6.04 million in March 2021).
…
Total housing inventory at the end of March totaled 950,000 units, up 11.8% from February and down 9.5% from one year ago (1.05 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 2.0-month supply at the present sales pace, up from 1.7 months in February and down from 2.1 months in March 2021.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1993.

Sales in March (5.77 million SAAR) were down 2.7% from the previous month and were 4.5% below the March 2021 sales rate.

The second graph shows nationwide inventory for existing homes.

According to the NAR, inventory increased to 0.95 million in March from 0.85 million in February.

Headline inventory is not seasonally adjusted, and inventory usually decreases to the seasonal lows in December and January, and peaks in mid-to-late summer.

The last graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in reported existing home inventory and months-of-supply. Since inventory is not seasonally adjusted, it really helps to look at the YoY change. Note: Months-of-supply is based on the seasonally adjusted sales and not seasonally adjusted inventory.

Inventory was down 9.5% year-over-year (blue) in March compared to March 2021.

Months of supply (red) increased to 2.0 months in March from 1.7 months in February.

This was slightly below the consensus forecast. I’ll have more later.