Spring 2016 comes with a 5.1 percent increase in the sales of existing homes against the newly built residences in March and February. It was 1.5 percent from a similar period last year. The buyers closed on a total of 5.33 million of townhouses, single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops last month based on the seasonally adjusted figures in a recent report.
According to Jonathan Smoke, chief economist in Realtor.com, there are a significant number of buyers nowadays who tried to buy last year but were not successful due to either being outbidded or just could not find a home. Smoke believes that these buyers took some rest during the holiday season and later hit the market in the Spring of 2016, according to a feature from Realtor.
Low interest rates given on mortgages are also encouraging the aspiring homeowners to move, given the fact that the cheaper rates mean they can pay out more on a home. The Spring of 2016 appears to be a busier period for home sales, which tend to occur through the summer.
However, only 1/3 of those signing contracts were first-time buyers, something which the economists blamed on the lack of affordable homes being offered in the market.
A median price of $222,700 for an existing home was recorded in March, which is a 5.7 percent increase from a year earlier based on some reports. The homes appeared to remain in the market for 47 days, fewer than February's 59 and 52 days in March 2015, according to a feature from CNBC.
However, NAR's chief economist Lawrence Yun warned that the sales are weaker at the very high ends and very low ends of the market due to affordability pressures and supply limitations. He also added that a portion of potential buyers at the market's upper end seem to have been frightened by the stock market correction in January.
Since prices have continued to increase at around 5 percent per year, while sales have begun to slow down, some experts believe that it will go up during the busier months of summer.
