U.S. home prices, sales show strong gains as housing shortage

[William Hull]

Home prices have risen recently, a 7.5% increase to an average of $273,000 this March. Conversely, sales numbers have gone down 13% over the past year. The report that identified these trends shows that 2017 will remain a strong year for the housing market. Over one-third of studied metropolitan areas displayed double-digit increases in home sales. This is evidenced by strong sales in some larger cities along the coast, and a lowering of number of available houses for sale in others cities across the country. Cities such as Fort Myers, Knoxville, and Austin are really displaying huge growth in sales, as high as 32.4%. Strong sales are continuing to be anticipated by Redfin real estate agents, such as Alec Traub. He suggests that it’s the easy access to available home listings by individual customers that is really driving sales interest. Instead of relying on a real estate agent to bring them potential fitting homes to investigate, buyers are able to do much more homework on their own and only use the agent for guidance when needed. Despite this newfound empowerment, however, it’s still recommended that potential home buyers work closely with an experienced agent when it comes time to really get to work.

Key Takeaways:

• Four East coast cities had an inventory decline of more than 30%.
• The velocity of home sales is driven by open and immediate access to the home listing information.
• Some agents recommend buyers to provide assurances to both the seller and listing agent.

"According to the report, 32 out of 90 metropolitan areas saw sales increase by double digits from last year."

Read more: http://www.housingwire.com/articles/39853-redfin-us-home-prices-sales-show-strong-gains-as-housing-shortage-continues