Much to the elation of home sellers everywhere, home prices are on the rise in nearly all states, according to a recent report from the real estate researcher CoreLogic.
Evidently, 48 states showed year-over-year gains in April.
Meanwhile, home prices also showed month-over-month gains between March and April.
As a result, home sellers from California to New York are feeling increasingly confident about entering their local real estate markets, hopeful about the price they may be able to get for their property.
Home Sellers Encouraged by National Home Prices
According to CoreLogic, home prices rose 3.2 percent between March and April – a sizeable increase from the 1.9 percent gain between February and March.
Nevada led the nation in gains, with home prices there leaping 24.6 percent from 2012.
Rounding out the top five list were:
- California (19.4 percent)
- Arizona (17.3 percent)
- Hawaii (17 percent)
- Oregon (15.5 percent)
Experts say that a low inventory of available homes for sale has caused home prices to rise – at least in part.
After all, as more buyers have entered the market hoping to take advantage of near-record low mortgage rates and depressed home values, the proportion of buyers and available homes for sale has become increasingly skewed.
In fact, the total number of homes for sale is 14 percent lower than it was last year.
And as any Economics 101 class will tell you, when demand exceeds supply, prices begin to rise.
This is driving even more buyers to the market, hoping to secure a great deal before prices rise even more.
Experts are now calling on more homeowners to list their property on the market, emphasizing that these individuals are likely to be pleased with the outcome of the sale.
Fast Facts on the National Housing Market
But before they enter the market, home owners should recognize the importance of aggressively pricing their property.
By accurately pricing their property at fair market value, it’s more likely that home owners will be able to sell their property quickly, instead of watching it languish on the market.
In order to price their home, it helps to be aware of recent activity on the market. To that end, here are some recent national housing market statistics that should help:
- The National Association of Realtors recently reported that sales of previously occupied homes reached a 3.5 year high in April.
- In April, the total number of signed home purchase contracts rose to its highest level in three years.
- Home builders are gaining confidence in the market, with building permit applications increasing in April to their highest level in almost five years.
- In 94 of the 100 largest U.S. cities, home prices increased during the month of April. During the previous month, that only happened in 88 cities.
- Los Angeles and Phoenix saw the biggest price gains in those 100 cities, with both seeing a 19.2 percent year-over-year increase in home prices.
- Atlanta and Riverside-San Bernardino were runners-up in terms of price gains. Both saw 16.5 percent year-over-year increases.
- Dallas saw the third highest price gain in the country, with a 10.2 percent increase.
Although these home price gains are quite encouraging, it’s important to note that prices nationwide remain about 22 percent lower than their April 2006 peak.
Keeping an Eye on the National Housing Market for You
Check back here soon for regular updates on the state of the national housing market, which is sure to have an impact on local real estate markets all across the country.
Whether you’re thinking of buying or selling a piece of real estate, the information we provide will better prepare you for navigating the market effectively.
Keeping an Eye on the Local Housing Market for You
- Total Residential Sales are down 5% during first 5 months of 2013 from same period of 2012 – 1115 sold this year vs. 1175 sold in 2012
- Total Existing and New Single Family Homes down 9% during first five months of 2013 vs. 2012 – 943 sold this year vs. 1034 sold in 2012
- Total New Single Family Homes down 17% during first five months of 2013 vs. 2012 – 550 sold this year vs. 665 sold in 2012
- Total Existing Single Family Homes up 7% during first five months of 2013 vs. 2012 – 393 sold this year vs. 369 sold in 2012
- Total REO (foreclosures) Homes up 155% during first five months of 2013 vs. 2012 – 130 sold this year vs. 51 sold in 2012
From the numbers you can see that the general Jacksonville NC Metro Real Estate Market is slowing down with a large part of the slow down in the new home market, even though new homes are still selling better than existing homes. Foreclosures and short sales have really picked up over the last year.
The main problem with short sales in this market has been it has been taking too long for the banks to make a decision and most of our buyers in the Jacksonville NC Metro area are military buyers and don’t have the time to wait. So, many short sales transactions end up being terminated. If you have questions on foreclosures or short sales, you can receive more information: Short Sale and Foreclosure Guide