Realtor.com® Report: 2014 Home Buying Starts Strong

The polar vortex is proving to be no sweat for home buyers, good latest National Housing Trend Report from realtor.com®.

Despite severe winter weather conditions nationally, the 2014 real estate season got off and away to an excellent start having a year-over-year improvement in inventory and sustained growth in home prices.

The median list price for January rose 8.3 percent when compared to the same time a year ago, according to the realtor.com® data. How many properties purchasable was up 3.1 percent. And the median day of inventory was essentially unchanged, indicating a transition to some “less frenzied market” in comparison to January 2013.

The solid start “is an encouraging sign of sellers’ interest, particularly given the adverse conditions brought on by the polar vortex,” said Errol Samuelson, president of realtor.com®. “We got the tight-supply market of last fall carry completely into November — later than is commonly expected — and this early improvement in inventory is often a welcome trend.”

Looking ahead, the nation's median existing home costs are projected to elevate about 5 percent in order to six percent in 2014, according to the Nar®, which cites job growth and enormous, pent-up demand as drivers on the market in light of rising mortgage rates.

The California, Detroit and Nevada markets keep top their email list of areas with all the largest year-over-year increases in median list prices, boasting increases of 20 % or more.

Nevertheless the polar vortex took a toll in a few areas of the media. Strong markets hit hard by winter weather — like Boston, Chicago and Detroit — saw as much as 10 % month-over-month declines in inventory. Once winter months subsides, however, these markets may go through a solid recovery, realtor.com® analysts said.

National Perspective

Inventory increasing: On the national level, for-sale inventories are now 3.1 percent above we were holding a year ago, plus the increase in inventory is spreading to more markets around the world. In January 2013, just eight markets out of your 146 registered increases in inventory. This January, 83 on the 143 markets tracked by realtor.com (58 percent) showed increases in inventory, year over year. Even though the next several months will probably be critical to look at, these trends suggest a far more balanced housing sector commencing the 2014 home buying season.

Price increases more widespread: Median list price rose a healthy 8.3 % in January 2014 compared to the same time last year. In January 2014, 44 markets saw year-over-year list price increases of 10 % or more, as compared to January 2013, when 24 markets registered double-digit increases in median list price. The volume of declining markets with regard to median list price dropped from 58 in January 2013 just to 13 in January 2014.

Days on market stabilizing: Median ages of inventory remained steady in January 2014 when compared to the same time a year ago, at 115 days. However, the amount of markets showing year-over-year declines in inventory has dropped significantly, from 133 markets in January 2013 to 78 markets in January 2014. Meanwhile, 56 markets showed year-over-year increases in inventory in January 2014, compared to just nine markets in January 2013.

Local Market Highlights

California, Detroit and Nevada markets always dominate their email list of areas extraordinary largest year-over-year increases in median list prices, with increases of 20 percent or more.

Entering into the spring months, you should watch for markets which has a possible resurgence, such as Denver, Boulder, Chicago and Corpus Christi, TX, where depressed inventories have been accompanied with large year-over-year gains in median list prices. Sustained low inventories of these markets could to lead to demand-driven housing price increases that characterized California and quite a few in the sand states in 2013.

Strong markets particularly worth noting as those worst hit by climate-driven troubles include Boston using a 10.9 percent month-over-month inventory decline, Chicago which has a 6.1 percent inventory drop, Denver with a striking 13.5 percent inventory decline, Detroit having a 6.8 percent reduction, Nyc using a 9.5 percent decline, and Philadelphia with the 8.2 percent decline. These markets may experience notable inventory recovery after prohibitive conditions subside.

Realtor.com® regularly tracks property data and develops monthly reports featuring the volume of listings, median ages of inventory and median list price throughout the U.S. and in specific markets, along with provides year-over-year and month-over-month changes. These reports are classified as the only ones pulled directly from the realtor.com® database, where 90 % of listings are updated every 15 minutes from over 800 MLSs. We regularly review increase historical data so that you can provide you with the most accurate and comprehensive market information available. To learn more about Move, go to www.move.com a treadmill of their many online real property properties including realtor.com®.