*562 went pending in the month of March

Even in this market, historical trends continue! As I predicted in the last update, in spite of the current market conditions, the stats are showing an increase in real estate activity over the past month. Unfortunately, when it comes to change in "distressed properties", we haven't seen any movement. As of the time these stats where pulled, 26% of the active homes, 28% of the homes pending, and a full 35% of homes sold are either bank owned or short sales. Breaking the sold number down even further: according to the NWMLS stats, last year in March only 398 homes sold. We are doing much better in 2010 with 572 homes sold in March! Of those homes, 521 were below $500K, 417 were below $350K and 223 were below $250K.

Continue to watch the job market in the next few months. My opinion is that this is a key indicator for the recovery of the housing market. Without jobs or job security, we will not see "first time home buyers" enter the real estate market, and "first time home buyers" are the heartbeat of the market. Another key element is the anouncement that our government will not longer be buying mortgage back securities, let's see how this play's out in the next few months. On a final note - the $8,000 tax credit will end April 30th.

Current interest rates are hovering  around 5.05% with all indications leading to a rate increase in the near future.