India, April 24 -- Reflecting affordability challenges associated with high mortgage rates, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Thursday showing a steep drop by U.S. existing home sales in the month of March.
NAR said existing home sales plunged by 5.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.02 million in March after surging by 4.4 percent to a revised rate of 4.27 million in February.
Economists had expected existing home sales to tumble by 3.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.13 million from the 4.26 million originally reported for the previous month.
"Home buying and selling remained sluggish in March due to the affordability challenges associated with high mortgage rates," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
He added, ...