St Casimirs Mortgage Minute

Existing Home Sales Slip; Prices Continue Rising

Existing home sales edged down 0.2 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.59 million, the National Association of Realtors said yesterday. Sales reached their lowest level since July 2012 and were 7.5 percent below their rate a year before. At $198,500, the median sales price for March was 7.9 percent higher than the year before.

In related news, the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index rose 0.6 percent in February. Prices were up 6.9 percent from a year ago but still 7.6 percent below their April 2007 peak. The FHFA’s monthly index is calculated using the prices of houses bought with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac---

ABA Daily Newsbytes