Spring Selling Market in Full Swing
March Closings starting to Gain Momentum

1,625 homes were sold (closed) last month - - an 8.0% decrease from a year ago.

The March average home selling price climbed to $172,227 vs. $156,973 a year earlier, an 9.7% increase. The average price has increased year-over-year for 25 consecutive months.

Local home mortgage rates in March averaged 4.45% for a 30-year fixed rate loan. Even though the rates are up slightly from 3.67% a year ago, they are still at a level that makes purchasing a home very affordable and does not appear to be negatively influencing home sales.

The inventory of homes for sale as of March 31 continued its year-over-year declining trend to 8,789 from 9,575 a year ago, down - 8.2%. However, March inventory increased +2.8% compared to February 2014. This was a result of a 1.1% increase in new listings in March compared to February 2014.

Nationwide, March home sales were down -0.2% from February on a seasonally adjusted basis and were down -7.5 % from March 2013.