Existing home sales increased 3.7% to a seasonally-adjusted 5.10 million in March, as investors continue to swoop in for deals on lower-priced homes, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.
February’s existing home sales figure was revised to 4.92 million from 4.88 million reported last month.
Economists expected 5.0 million home sales for the month, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun said all-cash transactions for home purchases totaled 35% in March, possibly a record high. The NAR only recently started tracking all-cash transactions on a month-to-month basis, he said. Historically, all-cash transactions are about 10% of the market.
Additionally, distressed sales accounted for 40% of all existing home transactions in March, the highest since April 2009. Yun said that combined with the all-cash transactions figures, the distressed sales figure demonstrates investors are capitalizing on deals for lower-priced properties.
The number of sales for properties of less than $100,000 was up 10% from a year ago, which Yun said was “quite surprising.” The mid-price range, which accounts for two-thirds of sales, is lagging, he said.
The median home price was $159,600 in March, up 2.2% from February and down 5.9% from a year ago.
Sales last year were fueled in part by the homebuyers’ tax credit.
The supply of homes for sale dipped to 8.4 months from 8.5 months in February.
