Both home prices and home sales in September continued at levels higher than last year, according to the RE/MAX National Housing report, a survey of MLS data in 52 metropolitan areas. For the eighth consecutive month, September’s median home price was higher than the previous year. Median prices rose 7.8 percent from September 2011. Home sales followed a seasonal pattern and dropped lower than levels seen in August, but maintained a level 0.5 percent higher than sales last year. Inventory was 29.1 percent below September 2011 and may have contributed to the drop in sales from August. While low inventories are creating bidding wars in some markets, they also have resulted in prices moving higher.
“With the summer buying season behind us, we can clearly see the market has made a significant rebound, and 2012 is definitely the year of the housing recovery,” said Margaret Kelly, CEO of RE/MAX. “Although we still face serious obstacles in tight lending and shrinking inventory, we believe the housing market will continue to recover into 2013.”
Source: RE/MAX