Improved Market Activity In February
/One of several infographics from the February 2015 survey report
The latest REALTORS(c) Confidence Index survey has been released to those who responded to the survey -- like me -- and it has some good news for those looking to buy or sell this year. For those of you unfamiliar with the survey, it is sent by the National Association of REALTORS each month to 50,000 randomly chosen members, as well as to respondents in the previous three surveys who provided an email address.
So, what's the news? February showed increased market activity across the nation, supported by easier mortgage access and the recent decrease in FHA mortgage insurance premiums. Also, REALTORS in every state were very positive about the outlook for single family homes in the next six months. Buyer traffic did continue to outpace seller traffic in February, so it's not just me wondering where all the homes are for my buyers (great time to list, everyone!). Showings were down overall in February, but since this has been the trend for the past two years and it was a snowy winter month for many of us I'm not terribly surprised. REALTORS expect that prices will increase modestly over the next year -- not another bubble, just a gradual increase partly due to high buyer demand and lower inventory. Homes are taking about a week less to sell than reported in January but about the same amount of time as February 2014; over a third of homes sold within 30 days.
There's plenty more information in this report, but those are the highlights. You'll be able to see it for yourself at the NAR website later this week.
