Market UPdate – April 2012

It’s spring, folks, and the market is seeing a revival worthy of the sunshine and flowers. Yes, we have reason to be happy and positive! Interest rates are still hovering below 4%, stories of successful refinances are being heard more frequently, and home sales are steadily going up. Buyers can look forward to more homes coming onto the market. Sellers can look forward to entertaining the possibility of multiple offers.

As expected, those sellers who beat the spring en masse saw impressive results last month. As the chart below shows, closed sale prices jumped from $155,000 average to $170,000 average.

Average Sales Price March 2012

From the perspective of the past two years, that’s huge! It’s evident that homes over $150,000 are getting back into the game.

What’s the overall market look like?

• Closed unit sales have increased (over the previous year) each month for the last 9 months.
• 1st Quarter 2012 is the best we have seen in four years.
• Active listings are up from February, yet down 11.4% from March of 2011 (aka reduced inventory starting recovery).
• Increased unit sales and the declining inventory over winter, stabilized prices, as expected.
• Price declines have slowed, and the average sales price went up 5.4% from March 2011.
• The market under $175,000 continues to gain strength with multiple offer situations becoming more frequent.

All in all, this is the best market we’ve seen – for all parties involved – in quite some time.  Good deals to be had with low interest rates for buyers, better sales prices and less competition for sellers.

~ Becky