Increased Home Listings Signal Positive 2014

Author: Colin Robins February 20, 2014 

Realtor.com released Thursday its National Housing Trend Report for January. Despite severe weather conditions, the report notes positive trends in the number of listings and median list prices of homes.
The number of listings rose to 3.1 percent from January, 2013, and the median list price of homes is up 8.3 percent year-over-year to $195,000.
"In January 2013, just 8 markets registered increases in inventory. This January, 83 markets (58 percent) of the 143 markets tracked by realtor.com showed increases in inventory, year-over-year," the report said.
The median age of inventory is unchanged at 115 days, indicating a potential shift to a more stable market in 2014.
"January's start compared to year-ago levels 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 saw the tight-supply market of last fall carry all the way into November—later than is typically expected—and this early rise in inventory is a welcome trend. The sustained median list price growth supports the gains we saw last year, and sellers are responding with confidence in that consistency," Samuelson said.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) projects home prices to rise by 5 to 6 percent, in 2014. Job growth and pent-up demand are cited as motivating factors of the positive outlook from NAR.