RealEstateEconomyWatch.com

Last month prices continued to decline in 27 key markets as listing inventories rose just in time to sweeten the coming home buying season for buyers but they should act now because small increases are appearing on the national level, according to Altos Research’s Real-Time Housing Market Update.

“While the pricing  metric  90-day rolling average still shows  monthly declines, week-over-week data are beginning to show signs of improvement, indicating a good start to what is, typically, the strongest sales period of the calendar year,” said Altos, which provides real-time research to professionals and investors.

Altos’ 10-City Price Composite decreased by 2.01 percent in February to $433,573 and has fallen 3.44 percent over the last 90 days.  The greatest drops were in San Francisco (down 9.31 percent over three months), Washington, DC (off 8.13 percent over three months), and Detroit (down 5…65 percent over three months). Corresponding sharp increases in listing inventory in several major markets, most notably in San Jose (8.81 percent), Washington, DC (7.99 percent), and San Francisco (7.96 percent) were probably an indicator of sellers hoping to take advantage of heightened buyer activity this season.

 Housing inventory is up by 3.75 percent nationwide, though increases should be expected, as sellers hope to capitalize on seasonal upturns in real estate activity.

 Though February prices maintained their recent pattern of decline, week-ovre-week data indicates this trend may soon change as small price increases occurred on the national level, Altos said.