March Sales: New Listings Were Off to the Races

March buyers blew the roof off housing markets as they heeded warnings about the limited supplies of home for sale and found houses in record time. National monthly market reports on March transactions chronicled surge of sales as the spring season kicked off and tens of thousands of new listings turned over in a matter of days.

“We expected a seasonal uptick in sales this time of year and March certainly met and somewhat exceeded that expectation,” said RE/MAX CEO Dave Liniger as the months supply in RE/MAX’s latest National Housing Report fell below 3 months in March for the first time in history.

“Calendars might say spring is only a week old but we’re already in the thick of the most frenzied home buyer season on record,” concurred realtor.com’s Javier Vivas. Redfin reported its fastest March on record for home sales since it began tracking this data in 2010.

Every report told the same story. The plunge in days on market was breathtaking as buyers gobbled up new listings as fast as they hit MLSs. In NAR’s existing home sales report, days on market fell from 45 days in February to 34 days in March, on realtor.com from 90 to 68,, on RE/MAX from 71 to 64, on Redfin from 60 top 49.

Prices Outpace Incomes’

The three year inventory drought coupled with the spring surge in demand pushed prices even ither than

109.1 million full-time wage and salary workers were $830 in

the first quarter of 2016 (not seasonally adjusted), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

This was 2.7 percent higher than a year earlier

March Market Reports at a Glance

Source	Monthly Sales Trend	Annual Sales Trend	Monthly Price Trend	Annual Price Trend	Median Sale Price	Median Days on Market	Comments
NAR	4.4%	5.9%	-2.18%	6.8%	$236,400	34	There was enough of a monthly increase in listings in March for sales to muster a strong gain. Sales will go up as long as inventory does.
Realtor.com	NA	NA	4%	8%	$260,000	68	The typical spring upswing in sales has come about a month earlier than usual.
Redfin	42.7%	8.9%	4.6%	7.5%	$273,000	49	Spring 2017 shapes up to be the fastest and most competitive housing market in recent years,
RE/MAX	-0.2%	6.6%	7.1%	11%	$225,000	64	Prices hit a new high due steady demand and record low inventory.
Zillow	N/A	N/A	0.4%*	6.8%*	$196,500*	N/A	Five percent fewer homes on the market now than a year ago