According to the RE/MAX National Housing Report, home sales have risen higher than sales the previous month for two months in a row now. This trend shows the stability the national housing market is finding. RE/MAX CEO, Margaret Kelly, stated:
“After the disruptions to the market at the beginning of the year, it’s a good sign that sales have picked up and have now increased for two months in a row…”
She’s right. Although credit availability and inventory remain tight, April became the 13th consecutive month with fewer inventory losses than the previous month.
Year-Over-Year Transactions Change
Home sales in April rose by an average of 10.9% over sales in March. Sales were still 7.8% lower than one year ago, which is an improvement from March’s 10.1% drop from last year. In March, all 52 surveyed metro areas reported monthly sales increases, and that positive trend continues in April with 50 of the 52 metros experiencing sales increases from the previous month. Atlanta saw a monthly sales decrease of 0.4% and Miami fell 0.5%. The greatest increases were seen in metros from a variety of geographic regions, with the highest sales increases as follows:
- Richmond, VA +26.1%
- Anchorage, AK +24.1%
- Wichita, KS +23.2%
- New Orleans, LA +20.3%
- Little Rock, AR +19.9%
- San Francisco, CA +19.2%
Median Sales Price
52 metropolitan cities were surveyed in the April RE/MAX National Housing Report. Of these, it was found that the median sales price of homes sold during the month was $190,000. This was 1.9% higher than the median price in March and 5.8% above the price seen last April. Year-over-year, the median sales price has risen for 27 consecutive months. Among the 52 cities surveyed, 38 reported higher sales prices than one year ago.
Days on Market
For all the homes sold in April, the average Days on Market was 74, just 3 days lower than the average of 77 seen last year in March and in April. April became the 23rd consecutive month with an average Days on Market below 90. Days on Market is the number of days between when a home is first listed in MLS and when a sales contract is signed.
Inventory Supply
With a supply of 6.0 considered balanced, the rate of year-over-year inventory reductions continued to shrink in April, ending the month with a level that was just 5.0% lower than one year ago. However, with a 1.9% monthly increase, April was the first time in 12 months that there was an inventory increase from the previous month. There was a 3.9 months supply of inventory, down from 4.1 in March.
Buying or Selling A Home?
Now’s a great time to buy or sell a home in Sarasota. Contact me, Dennis Kotaska today to see how I can help you get your home sold or find the home of your dreams!
Until my next post,
Dennis