Just like last year at this time, prospective home buyers should expect a competitive housing market for the next several months. With payrolls trending upward and unemployment trending downward month after month in an extensive string of positive economic news, demand remains quite strong. Given the fact that gradually rising mortgage rates often infuse urgency to get into a new home before it costs more later, buyers need to remain watchful of new listings and make their offers quickly.
New Listings were up 14.8 percent to 669. Pending Sales increased 24.6 percent to 588. Inventory shrank 7.1 percent to 2,211 units. Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 9.7 percent to $328,000. Days on Market decreased 2.8 percent to 139 days.
Months Supply of Inventory was down 21.5 percent to 5.1 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply. Although home sales may actually drop in year-over-year comparisons over the next few months, that has more to do with low inventory than a lack of buyer interest.
As lower days on market and higher prices persist year after year, one might rationally expect a change in the outlook for residential real estate, yet the current situation has proven to be remarkably sustainable likely due to stronger fundamentals in home loan approvals than were in place a decade ago.
Posted by Christina Galbreath-Gonzalez on
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