Highlights

Existing home sales fell 0.6% from a downwardly revised 4.95 mln (from 4.98 mln) in February to 4.92 mln in March. That is still up 10.3% y/y. The Briefing.com consensus expected existing home sales to increase to 5.01 mln.

Key Factors

Low supplies continue to constrain sales and to prevent an upward move past the 5.00 mln mark.
Inventories managed to eke out a small gain, rising 1.6% to 1.93 mln. That represents a 4.7-month supply at the current sales rate, which is down from a 6.2-month supply a year ago. According to the National Association of Realtors, an ideal inventory level is around a 6-month supply.
Distressed property listings have also dried up. Only 21% of March sales – 13% from foreclosures and 8% from short-sales – came from the distressed sector. That was down from 25% in February and 29% in March 2012.
The lack of sales of distressed properties – which sell for an average discount between 13% and 15% to a comparative non-distressed home – helped keep upward pressure on median existing home prices. The median home price was up 11.8% y/y in March to $184,300.

The steady increase in existing home prices should act as an incentive for homeowners to list their home for sale and alleviate the current supply constraints.

Category	MAR	FEB	JAN	DEC	NOV
Existing Home Sales	4.92M	4.95M	4.94M	4.90M	4.96M
Months Supply	4.7	4.6	4.3	4.5	4.8
Median Price Y/Y	11.8%	11.3%	10.3%	11.1%	9.4%