Following a slowdown in February, existing home sales in the United States posted a solid increase in March.

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing sales were proceeding at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million. This pace was up 5.1 percent compared to February's downwardly revised rate of 5.07 million and an increase of 1.5 percent from March 2015.

Existing home sales included in the report are all completed transactions involving single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, and co-ops.

February had a larger year-over-year gain in existing home sales, but a significant decrease from the previous month. Existing home sales in that month were up 2.2 percent from February 2015, but down 7.1 percent from January.

"Closings came back in force [in March[ as greater numbers of buyers—mostly in the Northeast and Midwest—overcame depressed inventory levels and steady price growth to close on a home," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. "Buyer demand remains sturdy in most areas this spring and the mid-priced market is doing quite well. However, sales are softer both at the very low and very high ends of the market because of supply limitations and affordability pressures."

According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year conventional fixed rate mortgage in March was 3.69 percent. While this interest rate was up slightly from February's average of 3.66 percent, it was also the eighth consecutive month where the average was under 4 percent. The average mortgage rate for 2015 was 3.85 percent.

The median price for an existing home in March was $222,700. It marked the 49th consecutive month of year-over-year price growth, rising 5.7 percent from the March 2015 median price of $210,700.

Single-family home sales were up 5.5 percent, increasing from a seasonally adjusted pace of 4.51 million in February to 4.76 million in March. This pace was also 2.6 percent higher than March 2015, which had an annual rate of 4.64 million sales. The median price for a single-family home rose 5.8 percent from March 2015, to $224,300.

Condominiums and co-op sales experienced more modest growth. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for March was 570,000, up 1.8 percent from February's rate of 560,000 but down 6.6 percent from the March 2015 rate of 610,000. A condominium sold for the median price of $209,600, a year-over-year increase of 4.6 percent.

The Northeast had the strongest growth in the sales rate as well as price growth among the four geographic regions identified by the National Association of Realtors. The annual rate of existing home sales in the region in March was 700,000, up 11.1 percent from February and 7.7 percent from the previous year. The median price for an existing home in the region was $254,100, 5.8 percent higher than in March 2015.

The Midwest also experienced strong growth in existing home sales. The region had an annual sales rate of 1.23 million, 9.8 percent more than the previous month and 0.8 percent higher than the previous year. The median price increased 7 percent from the previous year to $174,800.

The West was the only place to experience some decline in existing home sales in March. While the annual rate of 1.15 million was 1.8 percent higher than in February, it was also 2.5 percent lower than the previous year. The median price of $320,800 was a 5.9 percent increase from the previous year.

Existing home sales in the South had an annual rate of 2.25 million, up 2.7 percent from February and 2.3 percent from March 2015. The median price rose 4.6 percent from March 2015 to $194,400.

There were 1.98 million existing homes up for sale in March. This supply was an increase of 5.9 percent from February, but down 1.5 percent from the March 2015 figure of 2.01 million.

"The choppiness in sales activity so far this year is directly related to the unevenness in the rate of new listings coming onto the market to replace what is, for the most part, being sold rather quickly," said Yun. "Additionally, a segment of would-be buyers at the upper end of the market appear to have been spooked by January's stock market correction."

Existing homes sold after spending a median of 47 days on the market. This pace tied a low set in August 2015, and was a decrease from the median of 59 days in February and 52 days in March 2015. Forty-two percent of the existing homes sold in March were sold in less than a month, the highest share since the July 2015 figure of 43 percent.

Distressed homes continued to spend more time on the market. While the median non-distressed home was sold in 46 days, foreclosures typically took 50 days while short sales took 120 days.

Distressed homes made up only 8 percent of all existing home sales in March, down from 10 percent in both February and March 2015. Foreclosures accounted for 7 percent of sales, while short sales represented 1 percent of the transactions. The average foreclosure property sold at a 16 percent discount, down 1 percentage point from the previous month. Short sales sold for an average discount of 10 percent, down from 16 percent in February.

Investor activity held fairly steady in March. Individual investors accounted for 14 percent of existing home sales, the same share as March 2015 but a decrease from 18 percent in February.

Sixty-six percent of investors paid cash for a property. One in four existing home transactions in February was paid for without financing, the same share as February and an increase of 1 percentage point from March 2015.

Thirty percent of existing home buyers in March were purchasing their first home. This was unchanged from both February and March 2015, and also matched the average first-time homebuyer share for all of 2015.

"With rents steadily rising and average fixed rates well below 4 percent, qualified first-time buyers should be more active participants than what they are right now," said Yun. "Unfortunately, the same underlying deterrents impacting their ability to buy haven't subsided so far in 2016. Affordability and the low availability of starter homes is still a major barrier for them in most markets."