Weekly Market Activity Report

The week ending March 19 showed a 16.6 percent decline in Pending Sales from the same week last year and a 36.9 percent decline in New Listings.

With a little imagination, spring is in the air. Buyer activity has been gradually on the rise for most of 2011 as prospective buyers seem to prefer sporadic puddles to insurmountable snowbanks. Compared to last year's incentive market, however, the year-over-year declines in purchase activity have been growing as well.

The number of Active Listings for Sale has remained remarkably stable thus far in 2011. In 2010, inventory levels had fluctuated by more than 6,000 units from the first of the year. That volatility has been tamped down below 1,000 units so far this year. With no additional purchase incentive in the pipeline, this should bring supply-side improvements and price stability as demand returns to historically reasonable levels.