January sales felt like spring says RE/MAX

The pace of sales as 2018 got underway felt more like the spring season according to a new report from RE/MAX

January sales felt like spring says RE/MAX

The pace of sales as 2018 got underway felt more like the spring season according to a new report from RE/MAX.

Sales were down almost 3% year-over-year and almost 25% from December 2017; but the National Housing Report shows that homes sold in around 60 days, the lowest number for January in the 9 years of the report.

"We recently saw the groundhog predict six more weeks of winter, but January housing numbers are telling a different story," said RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos. "It looks like the spring selling season may have arrived early because home buyers are not slowing down. The speed of this market is on pace with what we saw in the prime of the 2017 selling season."

San Francisco saw the fastest sales, averaging just 31 days on market; followed by Omaha, NE (34) and Nashville, TN (36).

The number of homes for sale in January 2018 was down 4.8% from December 2017, and down 14.8% from January 2017.

Prices also reached new January record
The median sales price also reached a new record for January with a 6.7% rise year-over-year to $224,000; with 51 of the 53 markets analyzed posting gains.

It was the 22nd consecutive month of year-over-year price gains, dating back to April 2016.