U.S. home sales plunge 8.5% in March, and it may grow worse

Josh Boak

The Associated Press

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

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday, April 21, that 5.27 million homes sold last month, down from 5.76 million in February. The decrease was the steepest since November 2015.

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

“Going forward, we’ve seen both homebuyers and sellers report being less confident and many are making adjustments to the process,” Hale said. “Already, sellers are getting les...