Spring sales are picking up
- RE/MAX says spring home sales rose across the 50 US metro areas it tracks in March. - March home sales were nearly 32% higher than February, and homes averaged 49 days on market. - The report signals seasonal re‑engagement even as national existing‑home metrics stay mixed (prnewswire.com) (wrenews.com).
Home sales rose sharply in March across the 50 U.S. metro areas tracked by RE/MAX, a sign that the spring market is drawing buyers back in. (news.remax.com) RE/MAX said March sales were up 31.6% from February and 3.4% from March 2025, the biggest month-to-month jump since March 2023. The average home sold in 49 days, down from 56 days in February but up from 44 days a year earlier. (resources.remax.com) The median sales price in the RE/MAX report reached $440,000 in March, up $10,000 from February and $5,000 from a year earlier. Buyers paid 99% of asking price on average, unchanged from March 2025 and up from 98% in February. (prnewswire.com) Supply stayed tight even as activity picked up. RE/MAX put inventory at 2.3 months in March, down from 2.8 months in February and up from 2.0 months a year earlier, while new listings rose 29.0% from February but fell 4.0% from March 2025. (news.remax.com) That metro-level rebound did not show up in the main national resale measure for the same month. The National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales fell 3.6% in March from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million, with declines in all four regions. (nar.realtor) The gap reflects different lenses on the market. RE/MAX tracks closings in 50 metro areas, while the National Association of Realtors reports a seasonally adjusted national estimate for all existing-home sales. (resources.remax.com) (nar.realtor) Mortgage costs are still a constraint for many buyers. Freddie Mac’s weekly survey showed the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 6.83% on April 17, 2026, after staying above 6.6% for most of this year. (freddiemac.com) Some cities posted much bigger gains than the national RE/MAX average. Bozeman, Montana, had the largest year-over-year sales increase at 38.7%, followed by New Orleans at 21.8% and Omaha at 19.6%. (stocktitan.net) March is usually the point when the housing market starts to accelerate after winter, and this year’s pickup was stronger than February but still constrained by limited supply and elevated borrowing costs. The next few monthly reports will show whether that March burst carries into the core spring selling season. (resources.remax.com) (nar.realtor)
