The recent surge in home loan applications has boosted expectations for the spring sales boom, but the National Association of Realtors (NAR) report on home sales Monday may ease strong expectations for the spring sales boom. The real estate market continues to run counter to the overall economic trend of accelerated growth following the slowdown at the beginning of the year.
"Given that mortgage rates have fallen and house prices have not risen so fast, there are more opportunities for people to buy in the spring," said Robert Frick, an enterprise analyst at Navy Federal Credit Union in the United States. "The main problem facing homebuyers is the lack of housing supply, especially in the low-end market."
Sales of completed houses fell 4.9% in March, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.21 million households. In February, the data was revised down to 5.48 million households, with a previous value of 5.51 million households.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast a 3.8% drop in home sales in March to 5.3 million households. In March, sales of completed houses fell by 5.4% compared with the same period last year, the 13th consecutive month of year-on-year decline. Home sales account for about 90% of U.S. home sales.
Economists expect that the housing market may still be a drag on gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter. Residential investment shrank in 2018, the weakest performance since 2010.
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