US home resales fell more than expected in February amid a persistent shortage of houses on the market that is pushing up prices and sidelining potential buyers.
The National Association of Realtors said yesterday existing home sales declined 3.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.48mn units last month.
January’s sales pace was unrevised at 5.69mn units, which was the highest level since February 2007.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales decreasing 2.0% to a pace of 5.57mn units last month.
“Realtors are reporting stronger foot traffic from a year ago, but low supply in the affordable price range continues to be the pest that’s pushing up price growth and pressuring the budgets of prospective buyers,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.
Sales were up 5.4% from February 2016, underscoring the sustainability of the housing market recovery despite rising mortgage rates.
In February, houses typically stayed on the market for 45 days, down from 50 days in January.
US financial markets were little moved by the data as investors increasingly worried whether President Donald Trump would be able to push ahead with his pro-growth policies.
The dollar fell against a basket of currencies and US stocks were trading mostly lower.
Prices for US government bonds fell.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is hovering at 4.30%. Home loans could cost more after the Federal Reserve last week raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 0.75% to 1.00%. The US central bank has forecast two more rate hikes for 2017.
Demand for housing is being buoyed by a labour market that is near full employment.
But home sales remain constrained by the dearth of properties available for sale, which is keeping prices elevated.
While the number of homes on the market increased 4.2% to 1.75mn units last month, housing inventory remained close to the all-time low of 1.65mn units hit in December.
Supply was down 6.4% from a year ago.
Housing inventory has dropped for 21 straight months on a year-on-year basis.
With supply remaining tight, the median house price surged 7.7% from a year ago to $228,400 in February.
That marked the 60th consecutive month of year-on-year price gains.
Builders have been unable to fill the housing inventory gap, citing rising prices for materials, higher borrowing costs, and shortages of lots and labour.
Lennar Corp, the second-largest US homebuilder, reported on Tuesday a drop in quarterly gross margin as the company struggled with higher land and construction costs.
The Florida-based builder, however, sold 5,453 homes in the first quarter ended February 28, up from 4,832 homes in the year-earlier period, and reported a 12% jump in orders.
The NAR estimates housing starts and completions should be in a range of 1.5mn to 1.6mn units to alleviate the chronic shortage.
Housing starts are running above a rate of 1.2mn units and completions around a pace of 1mn units.
At February’s sales pace, it would take 3.8 months to clear the stock of houses on the market, up from 3.5 months in January.
A six-month supply is viewed as a healthy balance between supply and demand.
Though higher prices are increasing equity for homeowners and might encourage some to put their homes on the market, they could be sidelining first-time buyers from the market.
First-time buyers accounted for 32% of transactions last month, well below the 40% share that economists and realtors say is needed for a robust housing market.
That was down from 33% in January but up from 30% a year ago.