ARLINGTON, Va.—New home sales fell to 627,000 units in March – down 15.4% from February's revised rate of 741,000 units and 9.5% from a year ago.
NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long said of the "dramatic plunge" brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, "The freeze comes from both the supply and demand sides, as residential construction activity was halted by lockdowns and prospective buyers canceled plans to view houses. Homebuilder sentiment plummeted in April to its lowest point since 2012."
Sales declined in all four regions in March: in the Northeast 41.5%, followed by the West (-38.5%), Midwest (-8.1%) and South (-0.8%). Also of note, sales were down in three of the four regions compared to a year ago.
"As the economy reopens slowly, the threat of another wave of outbreak leaves more uncertainty yet to come," Long added. "NAFCU expects the housing market to rebound modestly later in the year, but sales levels will not return to pre-virus levels until 2021 at the earliest."
Based on current month sales, there were 6.4 months of supply in March, up from 5.2 in February. The number of unsold homes left on the market decreased slightly to 333,000 units.