DFW existing home sales down 25 percent

Existing home sales in North Texas were down 25 percent in March, compared to a year ago, according to prelinimary figures from the North Texas Real Estate Information System.

But the median price of a home in March was $149,790, up 2 percent from a year ago, according to NTREIS.

The figures show the largest drop in home sales of the past 14 months of negative numbers. Each of the past 7 months have had double-digit year-over-year drops, according to revised numbers from the group.

Real estate agents in the 29-county North Texas area that spans from north of Waco to the Oklahoma border sold 6,223 homes in March. That's the most since October.

For the first quarter, home sales are down 18 percent from a year ago. There have been 16,256 homes sold in the area in the first three months.

The number of days a home was on the market before selling was 87 days, up 13 percent from a year ago.

Homebuilders are seeing a similar effect on new home sales. New home sales are down 31 percent in the first quarter, according to a report last week from Metrostudy.