RE/MAX Reports Good News on Home Sales

RE/MAX says that home sales jumped nearly 39% in March and that almost all of the 54 metropolitan markets it tracks experienced double-digit gains compared to February.

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The exception was New York, which registered only an 8% increase in sales on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, according to the monthly RE/MAX Housing Report.

However, sales are still down 8.2% from March 2010, a time when homebuyers still had access to federal tax credits for buying a home.

"It's encouraging that home sales are rising at a faster pace than we would normally see this time of year, and they're doing so without any artificial stimulus," said RE/MAX chief executive Margaret Kelly.

Last month, RE/MAX LLC reported that existing home sales rose 3.3% in February after tumbling 28% from December to January. The Denver-based firm also reported bad news: that home prices continued to fall in March, dropping 8.2% from a year ago.

"If sales continue at this pace into the traditional spring and summer buying season, we would expect to see prices follow as well," Kelly said.

Meanwhile, the supply of homes on the market fell to a rate of 7.1-months in March from 9.3-months in February. The inventory drop is partially due to declining foreclosures.

The National Association of Realtors releases its report on March existing home sales on Wednesday morning, April 20.


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