By DON FENLEY   

GRAY, TN –  Punxsutawney Phil and the housing market are at odds. The nation’s premier four-legged weather predictor says another six weeks of winter. But the housing market isn’t waiting.

January’s new contracts for existing single-family home and condominiums sales were up 36.6 percent from December, according to the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR).

Sellers OK’d 575 contracts last month. That’s 154 more than in December and 75 fewer than last year. New listings and active inventory are also up. It isn’t exactly a surge, but the market is turning, according to the Northeast

Pending sales are a leading indicator of housing activity based on signed contracts for existing single-family homes and condominium sales in the region monitored by the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) Home Sales Report. Since resales go under contract 30 to 60 days before they close, pending sales offer insight into the direction home sales will take.

“What we’re seeing now is the first signs of a typical seasonal inventory buildup to the prime home buying and selling season. Sellers typically wait until January and February to begin listing and marketing for the spring season.” NETAR President Jan Stapleton said.

Active inventory is dynamic, so it’s constantly changing. But at month’s end there were 1,226 homes on the market and 650 new listings. However, the inventory big picture is still flat. It has been stagnant since September because sales have consumed most of every month’s new inventory. It’s also noteworthy that half of last month’s sales were discounted from the asking price.

The typical home that closed in January was on the market for 59 days, up from 59 days in December. The time on the market has been slowly increasing since May. When homes spend more time on it signals, demand is softening.

The median listing price last month was $300,025. According to a mid-month market update, the median sales price was $221,000.

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Categories: REAL ESTATE