US existing home sales fall 2.7% in March

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Existing home sales in the US fell in March, while median sales price rose, according to National Association of Realtors (NAR) data released Wednesday.

Existing home sales, which measure the change in the number of existing residential buildings sold, fell 2.7% from the previous month to 5.77 million, marking two consecutive months of declines.

While the market estimate was a decline to 5.8 million, existing home sales fell 8.6% to 5.93 million in February.

On an annual basis, existing home sales in March decreased 4.5%, from 6.04 million in the same month last year.

"The housing market is starting to feel the impact of sharply rising mortgage rates and higher inflation taking a hit on purchasing power," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. "Still, homes are selling rapidly, and home price gains remain in the double-digits."

The median existing-home sales price rose to $375,300, up 15% from a year ago, according to NAR.