RealtyTrac, released its February 2014 Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report, which shows that U.S. residential properties, including single family homes, condominiums and townhomes, sold at an estimated annual pace of 5,083,241 in February, a 0.2 percent decrease from the previous month but still up 7 percent from a year ago. February marked the fourth consecutive month where sales activity decreased.
The real estate information company found that the decrease in sales volume nationwide was driven by monthly decreases in 31 states. Meanwhile, sales volume decreased on a year-over-year basis in six states, including Massachusetts, California, Arizona and Nevada, and 21 of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, including seven California markets along with Phoenix, Orlando, Las Vegas and Detroit.
“Supply and demand have reached a bit of a standoff in this uneven real estate recovery,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “The supply of distressed properties — which buyers and investors have come to rely on over the past few years — is evaporating quickly in most markets, but that dwindling supply is not being adequately replenished by non-distressed homeowners listing their homes or by new homes being built. Meanwhile, a key source of demand over the past two years — institutional investors purchasing single family homes as rentals — is starting to decline, and it’s not yet clear if that diminishing demand will be filled by first-time homebuyers and move-up buyers.”
“Our historically low inventory is keeping the Denver market from returning to normal,” said Chad Ochsner, owner/broker of RE/MAX Alliance, covering the Denver market in Colorado, where sales volume also decreased monthly for the fourth consecutive month in February. “Homeowners who are ready to sell their homes are not able to find replacement homes due to low inventory levels, causing them to either not sell or to sell and then rent, which is slowing the pace of the market.”
The national median sales price of U.S. residential properties — including both distressed and non-distressed sales — was $164,667 in February, down 1 percent from the previous month but up 4 percent from February 2013. February marked the 20th consecutive month where the U.S. median price increased or stayed flat annually, but it was the second consecutive month with a monthly decrease.
“Tennessee’s overall housing market is quite positive. Home sale prices in the Nashville-Murfreesboro MSA have increased for the past 12 consecutive months, while the number of distressed home sales continues to decrease,” said Bob Parks, chief executive officer of Bob Parks Realty, covering the Middle Tennessee market. “Housing inventory levels are still lower than normal, but we are looking forward to a much more robust spring market.”
“During the month of February, Ohio noted a slight decrease in sales compared to the previous year. Much of the decrease appears to be weather related, as many consumers delayed listing their homes and refrained from viewing available inventory due to below-normal temperatures,” said Michael Mahon, executive vice president of HER Realtors, covering the Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio markets. “As the March temperatures have warmed, so too has the Ohio real estate activity. Increased multiple-offer situations, as well as increased open house traffic, are indicators that March and April will likely be the benefactors of pent-up consumer demand, due to the frigid temperatures experienced during the first quarter of 2014.”