March existing home sales +1.1% to 5.60.....>

US DATA: March existing home sales +1.1% to 5.60 mln saar (-1.2% y/y), above

expectations for 5.54m. This followed no revision to the 5.54m pace in February.

- Sales were +0.6% for single-family homes and +5.2% for condos. Sales rose in

NE (+6.3%) and Midwest (+5.7%), but declined in the South (-0.4%) and West

(-3.1%).

- The supply of homes +5.7% to 1.67m to start the spring selling season, but

-7.2% y/y. The months supply rose to 3.6 months from 3.4 months in February, but

remained well below the 3.8 months supply a year ago. The median sales price

rose in March to $250,400, +5.8% from a year earlier, well outpacing the pace of

wage growth. 

- NAR's Yun noted that that the March sales pace was good, but there is still no

let-up in home prices, due mainly to low inventories and a fast 30

days-on-market average, compared with 34 days a year ago. Inventories are

particularly thin in the lower-price categories. Yun said we are seeing some

positive home building data, a positive for helping the depleted inventory level

later in the year.