Our listings have been showing at an average rate of about 2.1 each over the past week. Traffic is up, so is demand and buyers are buying. The spring selling season is almost here and due in part to the warm winter weather we’ve had, the busy season might already be here.

Today we sent out our Monthly E-Newsletter and we reported the housing stats for Mecklenburg County in January. When comparing January to the prior month and to the same period last year, here’s a sneak peak:

– Home sales were down from last month, but up 20% from last year.
– Average sales price was down 3% from last month and down 6% from last year.
– Median sales price down 9% from last month and down 1% from last year.
– Average time on market is up 2% from last month and up 7% from last year.
– Pending home sales are UP 19% from last month and UP 30% from last year.
– Housing supply is up 5% from last month, but down 23% from last year.
– Mortgage rates are about even from last month, but way down from last year.

The most encouraging data here is that pending home sales are still way up both from last month and from last year. Pending home sales is an indicator of what will close in the next 30-60 days. The huge increase in this statistic all but guarantees that home sales will be way up this spring when compared to last year. It takes increased demand for prices to rise. So the increase in sales this spring is the next step towards rises prices.

This year I am really feeling a greater sense of urgency for anyone looking to trade up. I believe that this rising demand will begin to impact prices in the next 1-2 years. So not only will the house you are selling rise in value, but so too will the house you are buying. If you are trading up, now is a great time to make that move before the more expensive home becomes even more expensive! The busy selling season generally runs from March through July. That makes right now the perfect time to be getting a home ready to list to maximize the time on market.