The median sales price fell 5.9% from March 2010 to $159,600 last month.
Homes On Market
The number of previously owned homes on the market rose to 3.55 million from February. At the current sales pace, it would take 8.4 months to sell those houses compared with 8.5 at the end of the prior month. Supply in the eight months to nine months range is consistent with stable home prices, the group has said.
Federal Reserve officials, in a statement following their March 15 monetary policy meeting, said that while the "economic recovery is on a firmer footing," residential real estate is still "depressed." The central-bank committee is scheduled to next meet April 26-27 in Washington.
Home prices dropped in the 12 months to January by the most in more than a year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home values. In 20 cities, prices fell 3.1%, the biggest year-over-year decrease since December 2009, the group said March 29.
Some underlying home values are less than the mortgages on the properties. CoreLogic Inc. last month estimated that about 1.8 million homes were delinquent or in foreclosure, a so- called "shadow inventory" set to add to the 3.5 million existing homes already on the market.
Builder Pessimism
Cheaper homes and distressed properties are making homebuilders pessimistic. Builders overall are not optimistic. The National Association of Home Builders' confidence fell to 16 this month, according to the group's gauge released this week. A reading under 50 means a majority of builders view conditions as poor.
KB Home, the Los Angeles-based homebuilder that targets first-time buyers, this month reported a bigger-than-expected loss for the quarter ended Feb. 28 as orders plunged.
"We do not anticipate a net profit for 2011," Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mezger said during a conference call with analysts on April 5. "The economy is continuing to improve. Even so, this recovery has yet to include significant job growth and has not spilled over into housing."