美國3月份房屋銷售下降了8.5%，而且可能還會進一步惡化

美國3月份房屋銷售下降了8.5%，而且可能還會進一步惡化

BALTIMORE -- U.S. sales of existing homes cratered 8.5% in March with real estate activity stalled by the coronavirus outbreak.

巴爾的摩——美國3月份現房銷售下降8.5%，房地產活動因冠狀病毒爆發(fā)而停滯。

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that 5.27 million homes sold last month, down from 5.76 million in February. The decrease was the steepest since November 2015.

全美地產經紀商協(xié)會周二說，上個月共有527萬套房屋售出，低于2月份的576萬套。這是自2015年11月以來的最大降幅。

The situation will likely get worse, said Danielle Hale, chief economist at realtor.com.

房地產經紀人網首席經濟學家丹尼爾·黑爾說，情況可能會變得更糟。

“Going forward, we’ve seen both home buyers and sellers report being less confident and many are making adjustments to the process,” Hale said. "Already, sellers are getting less aggressive with asking price growth, and we’re seeing roughly half as many new listings come up for sale this year versus last year."

黑爾說：“展望未來，我們看到購房者和賣房者的信心都有所下降，許多人正在對這一過程進行調整。”目前，賣家對要價增長的積極性已經有所降低，與去年相比，今年上市的新盤數量大約減少了一半。”

Home-buying had been steady for the first half of March because of low mortgage rates and the finalization of contracts signed in prior months.

3月上半月，由于抵押貸款利率較低，以及前幾個月簽訂的合同已敲定，購房量一直保持穩(wěn)定。

Sales in March were still 0.8% higher from a year ago, when mortgage rates were higher than now.

3月份的房屋銷售仍較上年同期增長0.8%，當時的抵押貸款利率高于現在。

The real estate market was already facing pressure from a shortage of sales listings and prices climbing faster than incomes, a linked set of problems that intensified last month.

房地產市場本來就面臨著銷售房源不足和房價上漲速度快于收入增長的壓力，這一系列相關問題在上個月進一步加劇。

The number of homes for sale in March plunged 10.2% from a year ago, to 1.5 million. This shortage appears to be most pronounced among entry level homes. The total number of sales of homes worth less than $250.000 has fallen over the past year because there are so few available.

3月份待售房屋數量較上年同期下降10.2%，至150萬套。這種短缺在入門級住宅中最為明顯。去年，價值低于25萬美元的房屋銷售總量有所下降，因為可供購買的房屋太少了。

The national median sales price jumped 8% over 12 months to $280.600. even as overall consumer prices fell 0.4% in March.

全美房屋銷售價格中值在過去12個月里上漲了8%，達到280.600美元，而3月份整體消費者價格指數下跌了0.4%。

Prices have been consistently rising faster than incomes for several years, such that many homeowners are struggling as 22 million people have lost their jobs in the past four weeks.

近幾年來，房價的上漲速度一直快于收入的增長，因此，在過去四周，2200萬人失去了工作，許多房主陷入困境。

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Monday that 6% of mortgages are under forbearance because of the downturn.

美國抵押貸款銀行家協(xié)會周一說，由于經濟低迷，6%的抵押貸款處于延期償還狀態(tài)。