美国3月份房屋销售下降了8.5%，而且可能还会进一步恶化

美国3月份房屋销售下降了8.5%，而且可能还会进一步恶化

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

巴尔的摩——美国3月份现房销售下降8.5%，房地产活动因冠状病毒爆发而停滞。

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.

全美地产经纪商协会周二说，上个月共有527万套房屋售出，低于2月份的576万套。这是自2015年11月以来的最大降幅。

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

房地产经纪人网首席经济学家丹尼尔·黑尔说，情况可能会变得更糟。

“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."

黑尔说：“展望未来，我们看到购房者和卖房者的信心都有所下降，许多人正在对这一过程进行调整。”目前，卖家对要价增长的积极性已经有所降低，与去年相比，今年上市的新盘数量大约减少了一半。”

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，由于抵押贷款利率较低，以及前几个月签订的合同已敲定，购房量一直保持稳定。

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

3月份的房屋销售仍较上年同期增长0.8%，当时的抵押贷款利率高于现在。

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.

房地产市场本来就面临着销售房源不足和房价上涨速度快于收入增长的压力，这一系列相关问题在上个月进一步加剧。

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月份待售房屋数量较上年同期下降10.2%，至150万套。这种短缺在入门级住宅中最为明显。去年，价值低于25万美元的房屋销售总量有所下降，因为可供购买的房屋太少了。

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

全美房屋销售价格中值在过去12个月里上涨了8%，达到280.600美元，而3月份整体消费者价格指数下跌了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.

近几年来，房价的上涨速度一直快于收入的增长，因此，在过去四周，2200万人失去了工作，许多房主陷入困境。

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

美国抵押贷款银行家协会周一说，由于经济低迷，6%的抵押贷款处于延期偿还状态。