A shortage of homes on the market hamstrung home touring activity in April, but buyers still seem determined to get their offers in, according to ""Redfin"":http://www.redfin.com/.
[IMAGE]The brokerage's Real-Time Demand Pulse--a monthly analysis of tour and offer activity from homebuyers across 20 U.S. markets--shows tour requests and signed offers [COLUMN_BREAK]
posted stronger monthly gains in April than they did at the same time last year. However, a lack of available homes ""softened touring strength somewhat.""
The number of customers taking tours improved 0.6 percent from March to April, a positive sign compared to last year's 0.3 percent decline. According to Redfin's data, tour requests spiked at the beginning of the month before dropping mid-month and finally picking up a bit in the last week.
Offers, on the other hand, continued to grow, suggesting stronger sales gains in May and June. The number of signed offers in April increased 7.0 percent month-over-month, beating out last year's already promising 4.4 percent growth.
Offer activity was especially strong in early to mid-April, easing off somewhat in the latter half of the month and closing with a 6.4 percent weekly improvement for the week ending May 4.