The Week Ahead: Gauging Existing Home Sales

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) will publish the data on the sale of existing homes for February, on Wednesday, March 21, at 10 a.m. EST. The monthly data measures sales and prices of existing single-family homes for the nation, and also gives regional breakdowns. These figures include condos and co-ops, in addition to single-family homes.

Existing home sales in January were down 3.2 percent and experienced their largest decline on an annual basis in over three years, according to NAR. The median existing-home price for all housing types in January was $240,500, up 5.8 percent from January 2017 ($227,300) with January’s price increase marking the seventy-first straight month of year-over-year gains.

Total housing inventory at the end of January rose 4.1 percent to 1.52 million existing homes available for sale, but was still 9.5 percent lower than a year ago (1.68 million) and fell year-over-year for 32 consecutive months. Unsold inventory was at a 3.4-month supply at the current sales pace.

Here's what else is happening in The Week Ahead:

• FOMC Meeting, Tuesday, 9 a.m. EST
• MBA Mortgage Apps, Wednesday, 7 a.m. EST
• Fed Chair Press Conference, Wednesday, 2:30 p.m. EST
• FHFA House Price Index, Thursday, 9 a.m. EST
• Fed Balance Sheet, Thursday, 4:30 p.m. EST
• New Home Sales Report, Friday, 10 a.m. EST