In the latest sign that the U.S. real estate market is improving, more Americans signed contracts to purchase homes in February than in nearly a year.

The National Association of Realtors released the data, which showed that the seasonally adjusted pending home sales index increased 3.1 percent to 106.9 in February.

That’s the highest it’s been since June 2013!

If you’re preparing to list your home anytime soon on the local housing market, we encourage you to continue reading to learn more about this trend!

US Home Sales Are On the Rise!

Here are some additional highlights from the recent National Association of Realtors report:

• Buying activity increased in the Midwest and West during the month of February, although it actually decreased slightly in the Northeast and South.
• Existing homes sold at an annual pace of 4.88 million in February, which is slightly below last year’s levels.
• The supply of homes was just 4.6 months, compared to five months a year ago. It should be noted that a six month inventory is considered a balanced market.
• Average 30-year fixed rates were 3.69 percent last week, according to the mortgage giant Freddie Mac. That was down from a 52-week high of 4.41 percent recently.
• Home prices have increased 17 percent since the middle of 2012, which is when the market bottomed out.
• Analysts are particularly encouraged by the recent gains because it means that the housing market was able to overcome such unforeseen and uncontrollable hurdles like freezing weather and a particularly harsh winter.

Experts say that the upturn suggests that the spring home buying season will be robust.

They added that home sales are likely to be further supported since the unemployment rate is down to 5.5 percent.

In fact, the unemployment rate is down to its lowest level in nearly seven years!  And employers have added 3.3 million jobs during the last year, including 295,000 jobs in February.

All of this is giving would-be home buyers more buying power as well as consumer confidence. This, in turn, is leading more to enter the national housing market in search of their dream home.

We’re Your #1 Real Estate Resource!

We hope you found the above information insightful as a prospective home seller.

As you can see, it really is a great time to list your property on the market.  After all, there’s plenty of pent-up home buyer demand and home sales activity appears to be picking up.

Please check back here soon for more valuable insight on that national housing market and how it may impact you.  We’d be happy to offer our expert insight in order to help you enjoy a successful outcome as a home seller!

The national housing market continues to show gains, with home prices rising year-over-year during the month of February.

This is fantastic news as it shows that the U.S. real estate market continues to rebound from the Great Recession.

If you’re considering listing your home anytime soon, please continue reading to learn more about current national housing market trends.

A Closer Look at Recent US Sales Activity

CoreLogic released its February 2015 CoreLogic Home Price Index and the conclusions are favorable for home sellers.

Here are some of the highlights of that report:

• US home prices (including distressed sales) increased by 5.6 percent in February 2015 compared to February 2014.
• That increase marks three years of consecutive year-over-year increases in national home prices.
• Month-over-month, national home prices (including distressed sales) increased 1.1 percent in February 2015 compared to January 2015.
• 26 states and Washington DC were at or within 10 percent of their peak prices during the month of February.
• Six states, including Colorado (+9.8 percent), New York (+8.2 percent), North Dakota (+7.7 percent), Texas (+8.5 percent), Wyoming (+8.4 percent) and Oklahoma (+5.2 percent), marked new home price highs since January 1976 when the CoreLogic HPI began.
• When you exclude distressed sales, home prices increased by 5.8 percent in February 2015 compared to February 2014.
• And home prices increased by 1.5 percent month over month compared to January 2015.

Certain states stood out for various achievements during the month of February:

• If you include distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Colorado (+9.8 percent), South Carolina (+9.3), Michigan (+8.5 percent), Texas (+8.5 percent) and Wyoming (+8.4 percent).
• If you exclude distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: South Carolina (+9.7 percent), New York (+9.2 percent), Colorado (+9 percent), Texas (+7.9 percent) and Florida (+7.8 percent).
• If you include distressed sales, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to February 2015) was -12.2 percent. If you exclude distressed sales, the peak-to-current change for the same period was -7.8 percent.
• If you include distressed sales, only Connecticut had a decline in home prices, with a 0.9 percent decrease.
• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines, including distressed transactions, were: Nevada (-35.4 percent), Florida (-32.4 percent), Rhode Island (-29.6 percent), Arizona (-28.4 percent) and Connecticut (-24.7 percent).
• If you include distressed sales, the U.S. saw 36 consecutive months of year-over-year increases.
• 92 of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population had year-over-year increases in January 2015.
• Those core based statistical areas that saw year-over-year declines were: Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD; Philadelphia, PA; Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT; New Orleans-Metairie, LA; Rochester, NY; Worcester, MA-CT.; Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY; and New Haven-Milford, CT.

Based on recent market data and projections, the CoreLogic HPI Forecast suggests that home prices, including distressed sales, will increase by 0.6 percent month over month from February 2015 to March 2015 and on a year-over-year basis by 5.1 percent from February 2015 to February 2016.

If you exclude distressed sales, home prices are expected to increase by 0.5 percent month over month from February 2015 to March 2015 and by 4.8 percent year over year from February 2015 to February 2016.

How Can We Help You With Your Next US Home Sale?

If you’re interested in entering the market anytime soon as a home seller, please make sure to contact us.

We would be happy to assist you by further analyzing recent market activity to see how it may affect your specific efforts as a home seller.