April realtor.com® Report Shows Housing Recovery Accelerating, as List Price and Inventory Increase

SAN JOSE, -- Realtor.com^®, the leader in online real estate operated by Move, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOVE), released its April data showing that the U.S. housing market is on its way to a broad-based recovery, an accelerated trend since March. The home buying season shifted into high gear last month as inventory and home list prices on realtor.com^® increased by 4.12 percent and 2.63 percent, month over month, respectively. As of April, homes are on the market nationwide approximately 81 days—a decrease of nearly 11 percent since April 2012—highlighting that while new homes are entering the market they are not available for long.

"Due to increased demand for homes and more confidence in the job market – we are beginning to see more and more buyers entering the housing market," said Steve Berkowitz , chief executive officer of Move. "Home buying season is off to a strong start, as buyers capitalize on moderate housing prices and snatch up homes quickly.  In some markets, we are seeing homes staying on the market for only a few weeks."

Despite the increase in inventory month over month, nationwide inventory declined year over year in all but 11 of the 146 markets realtor.com^® monitors. Approximately 36 markets registered a decrease of listings by 20 percent or more, still highlighting near records lows of available homes.

Approximately 37 markets experienced a decline in list price since last year, a figure that has been improving throughout the home buying season. The number of markets throughout the nation experiencing a steady or slight decline in median list prices is decreasing throughout the home buying season, another positive signal for the overall housing market recovery. In April, median list prices increased in 109 markets.

National Data

• ·         In April, the total number of single-family homes, condos, townhomes and co-ops for sale in the U.S. (1,750,839) increased by 4.12 percent month-over-month. On an annual basis, however, inventory decreased by 13.54 percent.  
• ·         The national median list price for single-family homes, condos, townhomes and co-ops ($194,900) increased by 2.63 percent vs. March, and 3.12 percent since April last year.
• ·         The median age of inventory of for sale listings (81) fell by nearly 11 percent in comparison to April last year.  

Local Data

• ·         Only seven markets throughout the nation experienced a one percent or greater year on year increase in housing inventory since April 2012. The Shreveport-Bossier City, LA market lead the pack with an increase of inventory of 19.16 percent since April last year. Springfield, IL; Huntsville, AL; Ocala, FL; El Paso, TX; Albuquerque, NM and Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR markets followed, respectively.
• ·         California continues to dominate the top 10 list of markets with the largest increase in median list price throughout the nation—only two regions in the list fall outside of California. These markets were hit the strongest by the housing crisis and are showing a great rebound as the housing recovery picks up steam. Oakland experienced the largest year over year increase in list price at 46.94 percent. The Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, CA market followed at 44.81 percent.Sacramento, CA; San Jose, CA; Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA; Orange County, CA; Detroit, MI; Ventura, CA; Fresno, CA; and Phoenix-Mesa, AZ rounded out the top markets with the largest increases in list prices in the nation.
• ·         Oakland continues to lead the nation with the shortest median age of inventory (15 days). San Jose, CA; San Francisco, CA; Denver, CO; Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA; Anchorage, AK; Washington, DC-MD, VA-WV (DC); Orange County, CA;Sacramento CA; and Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV (VA) follow, respectively. Homes in these areas stayed on the market an average 32 days, down 40 percent compared to last year.

Realtor.com^® regularly tracks real estate data and develops monthly reports featuring the number of listings, median age of inventory and median list price across the U.S. and in specific markets, as well as provides year-over-year and month-over-month changes. These reports are the only ones pulled directly from the realtor.com^® database, with the majority of listings updated every 15 minutes from more than 800 multiple listing services. For more information on Move, please visitwww.move.com or one of its many online real estate properties including realtor.com^® at www.realtor.com.