U.S. existing-home sales fell in March to their slowest pace in nine months, keeping the market’s spring ramp from taking off as many buyers stayed on the sidelines. The National Association of Realtors said sales dropped 3.6% from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million units, a pace the Realtors said reflects softness during what is typically the busiest stretch of the year for home shopping.
Realtors’ chief economist Lawrence Yun said the drop showed that easing mortgage rates earlier did not translate into renewed buying appetite. “Lower consumer confidence and softer job growth continue to hold back buyers,” Yun said in a statement, linking the housing slowdown to broader uncertainty about economic conditions.
The Realtors also reported that March sales were 1% lower than in March 2025, with the weakness concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest. The report framed the market as hovering near a roughly 4-million annual pace—well below the 5.2-million pace that has historically been the norm—suggesting a housing cycle still constrained by affordability pressures and limited momentum heading into spring.
While sales cooled, home prices continued to rise. The National Association of Realtors said the national median sales price increased 1.4% from a year earlier to $408,800 in March, which it said was an all-time high for any March in data going back to 1999. The Realtors said home prices have been rising year over year for 33 straight months.
The report tied parts of the demand picture to borrowing costs and to how quickly earlier mortgage declines could affect contracts that ultimately closed in March. The Realtors said homes purchased last month were likely under contract in January and February, when Freddie Mac reported average rates on a 30-year mortgage ranged from 5.98% to 6.16%—its lowest level in three and a half years to that point. Mortgage rates began ticking higher in March, the report said, as higher energy prices linked to the war with Iran pushed up yields on U.S. 10-year Treasurys, a rate lenders use in pricing mortgages.
Freddie Mac’s reported 30-year mortgage rate averaged 6.37% last week, according to the Realtors’ report, and that increase led Yun to lower his 2026 existing-home-sales forecast. Yun now projects sales will rise 4% this year, down from a previously projected 14% increase, as the spring homebuying season faces continued uncertainty over where mortgage rates are headed.
Beyond rates, the Realtors cited consumer confidence measures as a factor. The report said a gauge of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business conditions and the job market fell 1.7 points to 70.9, and that it has been below 80 for 14 straight months, a pattern the report said can signal a recession ahead.
Inventory dynamics also shaped the market picture. The Realtors said there were 1.36 million unsold homes at the end of March, up 3% from February and up 2.3% from a year earlier, but still below pre-pandemic norms. The report said March’s month-end inventory equaled a 4.1-month supply at the current sales pace, and that a 5- to 6-month supply is traditionally considered more balanced for buyers and sellers.
In the Northeast, the Realtors said low supply continued to drive competition. Yun said the region’s limited inventory contributed to competition and multiple offers that are “relatively rare” in other parts of the country, and that helped push the Northeast’s median home sales price nearly 6% higher from a year earlier even as sales hit their slowest pace on record. “We simply don’t have enough supply in the marketplace,” Yun said.
The Realtors report described the housing slowdown as part of a longer slump that began in 2022 as mortgage rates climbed from pandemic-era lows. It said existing home sales stayed at 30-year lows last year and have remained sluggish in early 2026, with declines in January and February versus the year earlier period.
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