Existing Homes Sales in March were up from Feb, Rate Hikes this year per Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer

April 21, 2017

The National Association of Realtors® reported on Friday that Existing Home Sales in March were up 4.4% from February to an annual rate of 5.71 million units. It was the highest level since February 2007 and up nearly 6% from a year ago. However, demand continues to outweigh supply with inventories down 6.6% from a year ago. “The early returns so far this spring buying season look very promising as a rising number of households dipped their toes into the market and were successfully able to close on a home last month,” Lawrence Yun, a chief economist for the industry group, said in a statement.

Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer of the U.S. Federal Reserve spoke to CNBC this morning saying that he still anticipates three rate hikes this year to the benchmark short-term Fed Funds Rate, despite some recent weakness to the economy. Mr. Fischer feels that the slowdown in the economy and the inflation rate was due to seasonal factors and will pick up as the year progresses. The Vice Chairman finished by saying that the Fed is dependent upon what happens in the economy and that the central bank is not tied to three rate hikes in 2017.