Redfin: Prices, Sales, Inventory All Climb in April

The housing market came out of April in a particularly strong position, according to ""Redfin's"":http://www.redfin.com/ latest ""Real-Time Price Tracker"":http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2013/05/real-time-price-tracker-april-2013.html, with prices, sales, and inventory posting gains across the country.

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Redfin's monthly report--based on home prices, sales, and inventory across 19 U.S. markets--shows prices rose 4.9 percent in April on a monthly basis and 16.1 percent on a yearly basis. Out of the 19 metros measured in Redfin's report, 18 reported month-over-month increases in April, the same number as in March. All metros experienced price increases on a year-over-year basis.

San Francisco, Sacramento, and Las Vegas saw the biggest year-over-year price gains, improving 34.5 percent, 33.5 percent, and 31.6 percent, respectively.

""The housing market across the nation was hot again in April. Yes, home prices are up. But the big story in this month's report is that inventory posted its largest month- [COLUMN_BREAK]

over-month increase in over three years,"" wrote Redfin blogger Tim Ellis. ""With more homes finally available to buy, home sales posted their strongest March to April gain since 2009.""

According to the brokerage, April home sales rose 7.2 percent over March and 10.7 percent over April 2012, returning to double-digit yearly gains. While last month's figures were promising, Ellis noted last May was especially strong for sales, ""so it is possible that this number may slip some ... with year-over-year sales going slightly negative.""

Fifteen of the 19 markets tracked saw sales increase from a year ago, five more than in March.

Meanwhile, the number of homes for sale increased 6.4 percent from March to April (the biggest monthly gain since March 2010), with only three markets reporting declines from month to month. On a yearly basis, inventory was still down 26.2 percent.

RE/MAX's ""National Housing Report"":https://themreport.com/articles/re-max-april-inventory-shows-evidence-of-rebound-2013-05-16, released in the same week, also pointed to a monthly rise in inventory as a potential sign of a comeback in supply.

The percentage of listings that were under contract within 14 days of debut inched up again in Redfin's survey, climbing 70 basis points to 35.2 percent--another record high in that category. The company predicts that number will level off through the summer.

""The market is as competitive as ever with more than a third of homes going under contract in two weeks or less, but there may be light at the end of the tunnel for buyers with the solid gains in inventory,"" Ellis wrote.