Real Estate Market Trends for April 2010
As expected, buyers in the Triangle MLS region took advantage of the federal first-time home buyer tax credit last month, which officially came to a close on April 30. Pending Sales registered in at 2,904, up 32.0 percent versus last year at this time. Closed Sales were similarly up 32.2 percent to 2,266.
To capitalize oon buyer demand, sellers added 5,124 new listings to the market in April, an increase of 24.9 percent compared to last year. They may have also been encouraged by the Median Sales Price which was up 3.9 percent to $184,950. This influx of listings has pushed inventory up 2.0 percent to 18,814. That amount of active listings is the highest since November 2008. But because buyers have been so active, Months Supply of Inventory is actually down 2.0 percent over last year to 9.6.
The month of May will be the first statistical test of the post-tax credit era. Will there be a bid drop-off in activity? Business as usual? We'll see. We're also watching mortgage rates more closely. They may spike sooner than later now that the government has stopped buying mortgage-backed securities.