Redfin: Sales, Prices Strong in January, Inventory ‘Anemic’

Home sales kicked off 2013 with their strongest start in years, according to data tracked by broker ""Redfin"":http://www.redfin.com/#home.

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Redfin's Real-Time Price Tracker, which tracks prices, sales, and inventory across 19 U.S. markets, shows home sales were up in January 12 percent year-over-year. While sales were down 20 percent from December, Redfin says this January was the strongest in ""at least four years.""

Fifteen of the 19 tracked markets saw sales increase from a year ago. No markets reported a month-over-month gain in sales.

Prices also dipped a bit from December, falling 2.5 percent--a common occurrence this time of year, Redfin says. Year-over-year, January experienced a 10.1 percent increase in prices, marking the 10th consecutive month that national prices have increased on a yearly basis. [COLUMN_BREAK]

Eight of the 19 metro areas tracked for Redfin's report saw month-over-month increases in January, up from seven metros in December.

According to the report, Phoenix and Las Vegas lead the pack in annual price gains, improving 31 percent and 26 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Long Island and Philadelphia both lost ground, dropping 1.9 percent and 0.3 percent.

While sales and prices showed strength in January, inventory remained anemic. According to the report, the number of homes for sale declined 33.4 percent from January 2012 to January 2013 (slightly worse than the 33.0 percent year-over-year drop in December). Month-over-month, listings were down 0.9 percent.

According to Redfin, as of January, inventory has dropped on a yearly basis for 23 months in a row.

While low inventory remains a concern, it did contribute to a spike in the percentage of listings that sold within two weeks of their debut. The percent of listings under contract within 14 days of debuting shot up to 30.3 percent in January, the highest point recorded since Redfin started tracking that statistic in January 2010.

According to ""Redfin blogger"":http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2013/02/2013_starts_off_strong_for_sellers_home_prices_sales_both_way_up.html Tim Ellis, the apparent spike in buyer activity indicates an intense spring selling season ahead.

""Despite the fact that selection is still slim and has not yet shown any sign of making gains this year, buyers are already out in force,"" Ellis wrote. ""With January data this strong, it looks like we're going to be in for a spring homebuying season even more hectic than last year.""