News we've been waiting for?

So the NAR is reporting that sales are up based on the February 2008 numbers. What does that mean for your production?

It means the buyers are stepping up, finally. So get out there and take advantage. Get the phones ringing in the homes of the customers you have been handed over the past 6 months and turn them into transactions.

Now is the beginning of your best year ever, but only if that is what you expect!

Here is the whole story from today's CBS Marketwatch:


ECONOMIC REPORT
Home resales up first time in seven months
Median sales prices plunge record 8.2% in past year
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch

Last update: 10:01 a.m. EDT March 24, 2008

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Boosted by a record decline in prices, the U.S. housing market showed signs of stability in February, with sales of existing home rising modestly for the first time in seven months, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.
Resales of U.S. homes and condos rose 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.03 million, ahead of the 4.85 million pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. See Economic Calendar.

It's the strongest sales pace since October. Sales are down 23.8% compared with a year ago.
Inventories of unsold homes fell 3% to 4.03 million, representing a 9.6-month supply at the February sales pace. Inventories are not seasonally adjusted, but a decline from January to February is unusual.

The median sales price plunged to $195,900, down 8.2% from a year earlier, the largest price decline recorded. Prices of single-family homes fell 8.7% in the past year, also the most since the records begin in 1968.

Since the credit crunch first hit in August, resales have been "stuck" in a narrow range around 5 million, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the real estate agents' trade group.
Sales rose in three of four regions, with the West still lagging. Sales rose 11.3% in the Northeast, 2.5% in the Midwest and 2.1% in the South. Sales fell 1.1% in the West.
Median sales prices are down 13.4% in the West, largely because the market for jumbo loans above $417,000 remains frozen, Yun said.

The median sales prices can be affected by the mix of home sold regionally and within different price ranges. Two other home price indexes that track resales of the same home over time will be released on Tuesday.

Sales of single-family homes rose 2.8% in February to 4.47 million, the second increase in a row and the fastest sales pace since August. Inventories of unsold single-family homes fell 5.5% to 3.43 million, a 9.2-month supply.

Sales of condos rose 3.7% in February to 560,000 annualized. Condo sales are down 29.7% in the past year. Inventories of unsold condos rose 14% to 604,000, a 13-month supply.

Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.