RE/MAX: Home Sales Continue to Rise, Prices Remain Stressed

For the first time in six months, home sales in the 54 U.S. markets surveyed by ""RE/MAX"":http://www.remax.com are greater than one year ago, the company said in its newly released January housing report.
[IMAGE] RE/MAX says the year-over-year sales difference has improved for three consecutive months now with several cities experiencing double digit growth to lead the trend.

Home prices, however, were 4.6 percent lower than in January 2010. Based on RE/MAX's analysis, the inventory of homes for sale last month was 5.6 percent below the level seen in January of last year.

""We're very pleased that sales this January are higher than last January, and we're hopeful that this indicates even higher sales this spring,"" said Margaret Kelly, CEO of the Colorado-based real estate franchise. ""Although inventories have been steadily shrinking for months, an increase in foreclosure activity could reverse this trend and produce additional pressure on prices.""

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Closed transactions fell 28.5 percent from December, which is not annualized and nearly equivalent to the historical December to January change, RE/MAX said. The year-to-year change in transactions turned positive in January with a 0.7 percent increase over January 2010.

Miami (+29.5 percent); Tampa, Florida (+21.8 percent); Richmond, Virginia (20.5 percent); New Orleans (+16.9 percent); and Phoenix (+16.5 percent), as well as 22 other markets, including some that were hardest hit by the housing crisis, experienced exceptional year-to-year growth in home sales last month.

Month-to-month home prices in the report's 54 metro areas had remained even for three months with only fractional changes. However, in January prices dropped 6.6 percent from December and 4.6 percent from January 2010, which represents the largest year-to-year drop since May 2010.

Seventeen metro areas, however, saw a year-to-year upswing in sales prices, including Jackson, Mississippi (+20.9 percent); Indianapolis (+9.4 percent); Pittsburgh (+9.1 percent); Tulsa, Oklahoma (+5.9 percent); and Washington, D.C. (+3.3 percent).

According to the report, the average days-on-market in the 54 metro areas surveyed was 99 in January, up three days from December and eight days longer than January 2010.

Inventory was down 3.6 percent in January from the prior month and down 5.6 percent from January 2010.