Housing Turnaround? Home Sales Up in March

Two reports released this week suggest that March was a solid month for the U.S. housing market, an unexpected turnaround for a housing market that had slowed down.

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 6.92 million units in March, up from February's pace but below the year-ago level.

The Census Bureau said new home sales showed surprising strength as well. Buyers scooped up new homes at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.213 million units -- 13.8 percent higher than in February.

Both reports outdid analysts' expectations.
Wasn't the housing market supposed to be slowing down? Yes, analysts have been talking about an expected slowdown for the past year.

It's said that as interest rates go up, buyer interest wanes. Freddie Mac said the interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.32 percent, 0.39 percent higher than a year ago. So where's the slowdown?

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