March Madness, Market Momentum, and $50k Brackets?

by Paul Peletta

Is it really the third week of March already? Holy moley.

Remember this line from last month's update?

"Those January pendings will become February’s final 'closed' numbers... the pended activity tells us the road ahead is heating up. Let’s keep an eye on this together for March!"

Well, the numbers are in, and the "heat" is real. If we look at February's final data, those pending sales turned into a 15.5% increase in closed sales. Here is the 916 breakdown:

Demand is surging: Pending sales are up another 9%.
Inventory is tight: We only saw a modest 5% increase in new listings.
The Clock is Ticking: Average days on market dropped from 47 days down to 39 in just one month.

This tells me the Spring season is right on time, and the scale is tipping increasingly in favor of sellers. Even with the news in the Middle East, mortgage rates have stayed relatively level-headed, containing themselves below that 6.35% mark.

The Wildcard: We have a complex Fed interest rate decision coming late Wednesday morning. This is one of those "needle-mover" moments that could either keep the momentum going or put a temporary damper on housing demand. As always, I’m watching the data so we can adjust our strategy accordingly.

🏀 Shoot Your Shot: Bracket Mayhem

If you haven't filled out your March Madness brackets yet, now is the time! Yahoo! Sports is letting everyone "shoot their shot" for $50,000 in prizes.