US home sales fell in March in tepid homebuying season start

By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in March and prices edged lower for the second month in a row, a tepid start to the spring homebuying season as buyers contend with sharply higher mortgage rates and a near historic-low number of properties on the market. Existing home sales fell 2.4% last month from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.44 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s below the 4.5 million home sales economists were expecting, according to FactSet. Sales were down 22% compared with March last year. The national median home price slipped 0.9% from March last year to $375,700, the NAR said.