Property sales jumped more than 10% in 53 of the 54 metros tracked by RE/MAX between with only New York not achieving double digits gains. In New York, home sales rose 8%.
‘This represents a complete reversal from January, when none of the 54 cities saw even single-digit monthly sales increases,’ RE/MAX said in the report.
Home sales are down 8.2% nationally from March 2010, but the Denver based real estate firm said the data isn't comparable because sales this time last year were artificially inflated by the first time homebuyer tax credit.
In the hard hit markets of Tampa, Phoenix and Las Vegas home sales increased 19.8%, 13.5% and 8.5% in March respectively.
‘It’s encouraging that home sales are rising at a faster pace than we would normally see this time of year, and they’re doing so without any artificial stimulus,’ said Margaret Kelly, RE/MAX chief executive officer.
‘If sales continue at this pace into the traditional spring and summer buying season, we would expect to see prices follow as well,’ she added.
Home prices showed the same trends as sales, edging up on a monthly basis, but still below this time last year. In March, the median sale price was $177,001, down 8.2% from a year earlier, according to the RE/MAX report.
Prices in 35 markets increased during the month, up from 17 in February and just three markets in January. San Francisco witnessed the only double digit increase in March with a 13.3% rise.
RE/MAX reported homes for sale in March were on the market for an average of 104 days. The monthly supply of housing inventory shrunk 23% to 7.1 months from 9.3 months the previous month, the firm said.
Mortgage provider Freddie Mac said in its most recent economic outlook report that the market is poised for a strong spring buying season. The government sponsored enterprise is anticipating a 5% increase in annual home sales this year to a projected 4.9 million sales.
A separate report from the Census Bureau shows that new home sales in March exceeded market analyst expectation by jumping 11.1% in March from the previous month.
Meanwhile, Capital Economics said it is hopeful that the increase in new home sales in March marks the end of the downward trend that had taken sales to a record low. ‘But with existing homes being sold at much more competitive prices, the demand for newly built properties will recover only very gradually,’ the firm added.
