Cervone, Deegan is pleased to share that the real estate market continues to thrive with more positive news being released. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has recently reported that the number of homes sales has increased for another month in a row in January. While the major regions across the country saw different levels of activity, year-over-year gains showed double digit growth overall.

 

The total number of home sales of single-families, townhomes, condos and co-ops had increased by 0.6% from December but was up by an impressive 23.7% from this time last year.

 

“Home sales continue to ascend in the first month of the year, as buyers quickly snatched up virtually every new listing coming on the market,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Sales easily could have been even 20% higher if there had been more inventory and more choices.”

 

 

Home prices have consistently increased now for the 107th month for year-over-year gains. The median home price for the month of January was up by 14.1% from January of 2020 with price increases in all major areas of the country.

 

 

The number of homes on the market for sale continues to be slim. Total housing inventory in January was down by 1.9% from the month before and drastically lower than this time last year by 25.7%. Inventory currently is at a 1.9 month supply at the existing sales pace.

 

 

Homes were on the market for an average of 21 days in January which was much lower than January of 2020 at an average of 43 days. Most of the homes that sold this January were on the market for less than one month.

 

 

Mortgage rates continue to remain low with the average commitment rate for a 30 year fixed mortgage coming in at 2.74% per Freddie Mac. This is higher than the 2.68% seen in December but lower than all of 2020’s average of 3.11%.