By DON FENLEY

The spring buying season crunch has arrived. Tri-Cities March pending home sales increased 18.7% from last year and 47.3% from February

The headline numbers mask a structural shift beneath the surface. Buyers are moving up the price ladder, and the data suggest the affordable market floor is rising with them.

At mid-month there were 879 new contracts in the pipeline eclipsing March’s sales total of 641 homes.

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). Since sales go under contract 30 to 60 days before they close, pending sales offer insight into the direction home sales will take, according to the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR).

New contracts in the affordable-priced market are 15% higher than last year.

The move-up market pending sales are 22.9%, and the luxury market is up 10.3%

New listing inventory mirrored demand trends. Total new listings edged up to 1,053 from 1,041 in a significant redistribution across price bands.

The $250,000-$299,999 range added the most new supply. It’s up from 163 listings to 185. The $400,000-$499,999 band also gained, rising from 119 to 138.

Meanwhile, the $300,000-$399,999 range, the market’s largest price band, pulled back from 227 new listings to 209.

The overall supply picture remains constrained relative to the pace of contract activity. The region has 3.3 months of inventory as it enters the second quarter. That’s how long it would take to sell everything on the market at the March sales pace.

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Categories: REAL ESTATE