The total home sales in 52 different metro areas in the United States during the month of January have experienced a 6.3 percent increase compared to the same month of last year, but fell down by 31.7 percent from December 2015.
"While home sales in the month of January are usually a little slow, it's nice to start the year with stronger sales than we saw last January. Mortgage interest rates remain about the same as one year ago and [are] very close to historic lows. More reasonable price appreciation is giving current homeowners improved equity, while not significantly impacting affordability for buyers," said Dave Liniger, RE/MAX CEO, Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder.
According to the press release of RE/MAX in PR NewsWire, Northeast metros such as Boston, Philadelphia, Trenton, Manchester and Burlington have all seen a strong growth in their January home sales as compared to other metro areas.
"Home valuations continue to rise as the economy strengthens, and buyers find homeownership often cheaper than renting. The number of potential homebuyers outpaced sellers in some markets. On the other hand, some areas are more balanced, producing slower growth or even a slight decline in some months. It is important to remember that tepid growth is not necessarily a cause for concern, but rather a sign of a healthy and sustainable market," added Bob Walters, Chief Economist at Quicken Loans.
The RE/MAX 2016 February Housing Report also showed that the median price of all homes sold in January was $200,714, up by 6.7 percent year-over-year. Many metro areas will remain to have a tight inventory, at a level that is 14.7 percent lower than one year ago. The national Months Supply of inventory has also decreased from 5.2 months in January 2015 to 4.6 months of the same month this year, basing from the home sales rate in January.
