The US housing market is struggling as the impact of higher mortgage rates, fuelled by the US-Israeli war in Iran, begins to bite.
Figures from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed the number of homes sold in March hit their lowest level for nine months, falling by 3.6% from a month earlier.
Average rates for a typical 30-year fixed deal stood at 6.37% last week, up from 5.98% before strikes on the country began in February.
"Some buyers feel like they're frozen - they don't know how to make their decisions because events like the ones we're talking about spring up so rapidly and so out of our control," said Andrew Vallejo, an estate agent in Austin, Texas.
NAR recorded 3.98 million existing home sales in the US in March, the lowest number since June. The figures largely reflect sales agreed before the war broke out, but show the market was showing signs of strain before strikes began.
