National conditions
Redfin’s March Market Tracker report, released on April 20, begins with the straightforward admission that “this is possibly the most unusual Market Tracker report that Redfin has ever published.” Strong market conditions early in the month gave way to ‘extreme disarray’ by the end of March as the coronavirus pandemic began to shut down the U.S. economy.
The report noted that “March home sales, which were only partially impacted by the coronavirus shutdowns, dropped 9.1% nationwide from February on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the largest decline on record. Home sales also fell 1.2% year over year in March, the first decline in nine months, and by the last week of the month they were down 11.5% from the same period a year earlier.”
In spite of the decreased market activity, home price gains rose during the month of March, with Redfin stating that “none of the 85 largest metro areas [we] track saw a year-over-year decline in the median sale price.”
Local conditions
Philadelphia was a particularly strong performer in terms of home price growth, ranking second in the nation with year-over-year price growth of 21.5%. The median sale price for March was $240,000, which represented a 10.1% increase month-over-month.
