The spring market is quietly finding its rhythm. Pending home sales moved up in March even as rates drifted higher, New York City opened its week with a flurry of big-ticket closings, and Texas wrapped the first quarter with modest but real gains.
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📰 Upcoming in this issue
📝 Pending Sales Surprise the Market in March
🏙️ NYC Logs a Big-Ticket Midweek
🤠 Texas Closes Q1 on a Steady Note
📈 Trending news
Kansas City Pending Sales Lead the Nation
Buyers Hold Cards in 38 Major Metros
Slower Sales Hit Housing Market Outlook
📝 Pending Sales Surprise the Market in March
The spring market notched a welcome surprise last week. The latest Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of REALTORS® rose 1.5% in March, with contracts up 2.2% compared with this time last year. Buyers who had been waiting quietly returned, leaning into longer days and more daylight after the clocks changed. The Midwest and Northeast carried most of the gains, while the South and West held steadier. It is not a breakout, but it is a sign that the pipeline is warming up even with mortgage rates still hovering in the high sixes.
Key Takeaways:
📈 Contracts ticked higher: Pending sales rose 1.5% in March, the second month in a row of quiet positive movement.
🗺️ Regional lift was real: The Midwest and Northeast led the gains, with the Northeast up more than 3%, while the South and West stayed close to flat.
🏡 Year-over-year looks healthier: Pending sales sit 2.2% above last March, a quiet vote of confidence from buyers still navigating elevated rates.
🔍 NAR sees a steady spring forming: Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said a mix of slightly easier rates and patient, prepared buyers is nudging the market forward without overheating.
🏙️ NYC Logs a Big-Ticket Midweek
Even on a quiet midweek, New York still found a way to log some eye-catching tickets. The Real Deal's roundup of top city deals for Wednesday showed activity across marquee addresses, with luxury condos and commercial buildings trading hands. Investors and well-heeled buyers stayed engaged, offering a useful reminder that even outside the peak headline cycles, the city's deal pipeline keeps working. It is an ordinary kind of busy that often says a lot about underlying confidence in New York real estate.
Key Takeaways:
🏙️ The city never really slows: Several notable transactions were logged on a single Wednesday, mixing residential and commercial addresses.
💼 Commercial activity held its own: Office and mixed-use buildings kept changing hands, even in a careful capital environment.
🏢 Luxury buyers stayed engaged: High-end condo and townhouse closings remain a consistent feature of the weekly leaderboard.
🗽 A steady pulse signals confidence: Daily NYC deal volume is often a quiet leading indicator for how comfortable capital feels.
🤠 Texas Closes Q1 on a Steady Note
Texas closed the first quarter with a steady, encouraging tone. New numbers from Texas REALTORS show single-family home sales rose 1.5% year over year in Q1, with 60,710 homes sold across the state. Prices moved in a narrow band, the statewide median sat at $314,000, essentially flat from last year, and active listings climbed in most major metros. It is a quintessentially Texan quarter: not flashy, not flat, just steadily moving forward.
Key Takeaways:
🤠 Sales nudged up: 60,710 existing single-family homes sold in Q1, a 1.5% gain compared with the same period last year.
💲 Prices held the line: The statewide median held near $314,000, essentially flat year over year.
🏗️ Inventory kept filling in: Active listings climbed in most Texas metros, giving buyers more to choose from heading into peak season.
The market does not look overheated right now. It looks steadier, which is often when better decisions get made and more serious buyers, operators, and investors start sharpening their read on what comes next.
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📊 Take This Edition’s Poll:
This-or-that: with mortgage rates in the high sixes, what changes your behavior most?
Why It Matters
This week’s headlines all point in the same direction: a market quietly finding its footing. Contracts are ticking up, city ledgers are still filling in, and big state markets like Texas are closing the quarter on a steady note.
None of it is dramatic, and that is precisely the point. Steadiness is what lets buyers plan, sellers price confidently, and agents build durable businesses.
Always at service,
Bailey Watkins
Editor-in-Chief
Residential Real Estate
P.S. Interested in sponsoring a future issue? Just reply to this email and I’ll send packages!