Forget the fact that I’m busy. Forget the fact that we are seeing multiple offers far more frequently. Never mind that we have more buyers looking, more sales pending, and more offers being made. Ignore the 5 new construction listings the company now carries, which is an all-time high. Those are all anecdotal examples of the market stabilizing. The real good news lies in the statistical data: more homes are selling for more money than they were a year ago, and not by a little. According to the Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service data for single family homes, January 2013 was far healthier than January 2012.
How much better? I’m glad you asked.
For the first month of 2013, 256 single family homes closed, up from 219 a year ago. That is an improvement of 17%.
Median price for those homes sold in 2013 was $522,500, up from $485,000 in January 2012. That is a 7.7% rise in median price.
There are still too many distressed homes, upside down mortgages, short sales and shadow inventory to be dancing in the streets.
But there is no longer any blood in the streets.
Amen.