The pace of US existing home sales fell by 3.6% to a 3.98 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in March from 4.13 million in February, compared with a smaller decrease expected to a 4.05 million rate in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:30 am ET, data from the National Association of Realtors released Monday showed.
Total sales were down 1% from a year earlier.
"March home sales remained sluggish and below last year's pace," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Lower consumer confidence and softer job growth continue to hold back buyers."
Sales of single-family homes were down 3.5%, while condominium sales declined by 5.4%.
Sales decreased in all four regions of the country compared with the previous month. Compared with a year earlier, sales declined in the Midwest and Northeast regions but rose in the South and West regions.
Homes remained on the market a median of 41 days, down from 47 days in February and above 36 days a year ago.
The supply of homes for sale increased to 1.36 million homes in March from 1.32 million in February but were up 2.3% from the 1.33 million level a year ago.
The month supply on market increased to 4.1 months from 3.8 months in February and the 4.0-months supply a year ago.
The median home price increased to $408,800 from $398,000, up 1.4% from $403,100 level one year ago and the highest of any March reading on record.
NAR drastically reduced its existing-home sales growth forecast for 2026 to 4% from the previous 14% growth rate.
"Mortgage rates have been rising, and that has led us to trim our home sales outlook for the year," said Yun. "Even with a more modest pace of sales growth, home prices continue to steadily increase due to minimal inventory growth."
The monthly existing home sales report from the National Association of Realtors measures sales of single-family and multi-family homes for resale at the time of closing, including the number of existing homes available and the median sales price. A strong reading is a positive sign for mortgage lenders and related consumer product companies.