Normally we would be very happy with a 4.2% increase in sales but after racking up double digit increases in three of the first four months and getting to a 16.2% increase in sales at the end of April, the result for May was a little disappointing. But still an increase is an increase and a 12.6% increase for the year to date is a lot more than where we expected it to be.

The average selling price continues to be strong and after posting decreases for the first two months we are now solidly in the $250,000 range with a 4.4% year to date increase. A word of caution about selling prices is that the average price increase has been affected by the above normal volume of purchases of more expensive homes for the first few months of the year. The median price which is sometimes a better indicator of the true market shows a small 0.7% decrease for the year to date: $221,308 for 2012 compared to $222,900 for last year.

The number of homes under contract increased from 552 at the end of April to 599 at the end of May. Homes under contract typically take around forty days to close so this should bode well for closed sales over the next couple of months.

As we mentioned in last weeks column, the main concern with the current market is the low supply of homes for sale. Particularly for homes priced under $300,000, this is causing a bit of a scramble with more buyers than sellers and some properties are receiving multiple offers.

Generally speaking, the national real estate news has been optimistic for the last few months and there are more and more signs that real estate sales, prices and construction are in a positive recovery mode. A lot of this is fueled by all time low mortgage interest rates but we notice a lot of pent up demand also – from both first time buyers who are ready to own a home and more seasoned buyers who are ready to get back into the market plus sellers who are anxious to move up or on after holding back because of the difficult market over the for last few years.

Bottom line – a 12% increase in home sales and a 4% increase in average selling price is a nice start to the year. The news is good!

Pam & Dave Pettigrew, Certified Residential Specialists, are available to answer your questions on real estate. Write to them at Prudential Rocky Mountain REALTORS, 2700 S. College, Fort Collins, 80525, call them directly at 970-282-9305, email FCRealtor@msn.com or visit their award winning web site at www.FortCollinsRelocation.com for an archive of all their columns