"Existing home sales rise 6.8% in March"

[Clio the Leo]

Existing home sales rise 6.8% in March

By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Boosted by a federal subsidy to buyers, resales of existing homes rose 6.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million from a downwardly revised 5.01 million in February, a real estate trade group reported Thursday.

Sales were up 16.1% compared with March 2009.

Sales in March were slightly better than the 5.29 million rate expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.

"The tax credit has done its work," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, in releasing the data. Given the momentum imparted by the federal tax credit, he said "the market would be able to stand on its own feet" in the second half of the year.

To qualify for the tax credit, buyers must sign a contract on a home by the end of April and must close by the end of June. The NAR data are based on closings.

Home prices have stabilized, Yun said. Median home prices rose 0.4% in the past year to $170,700, the NAR said.

Yun said the government's efforts to support home prices have preserved $1 trillion in household wealth, thus supporting consumer spending and the economic recovery.

Inventories of unsold homes increased 1.5% in March to 3.58 million, an 8-month supply at the current sales pace. Inventories have come down from the peak, but are still above normal levels, Yun said.

Distressed sales - foreclosures or short sales -- accounted for 36% of sales in March, up from about 33% in February, the real estate trade group said.

First-time buyers accounted for 44% of sales, and all-cash buyers accounted for 27%.

Sales of single-family homes increased 7.3% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million. Sales of condos increased 3.1% to a 670,000 rate.

Sales rose in all four regions of the country in March.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/existing-home-sales-rise-68-in-march-2010-04-22