April 2017 Residential Real Estate Report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nita Martin

601-948-1332 ext. 12

nita@centralmsrealtors.org

05/30/17

April 2017 Residential Real Estate Market Report

Strong Demand and Low Inventory Elevates Buyers' Frustration

(JACKSON, MS) May 30, 2017 -- "Demand is easily outstripping supply in most of the country and it's stymieing many prospective buyers from finding a home to purchase," says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. In April, CMMLS inventory remained short at just over 3,000 listing for the ten-county region. That represents a 6.3 months' supply, down 14.8 percent in a year-over-year comparison, and has caused a bit of buyers' frenzy at times.

CMMLS April Market Heartbeat reported that property listings were changed to a contracted status in just 103 days of being on the market. Sellers recovered 96.1 percent of their listing price too. The median sales price reached $170,000, up 1.2 percent compared to April 2016, pushing housing affordability down by 3.2 percent.

Lawrence Yun projects that prospective buyers will be the most sensitive to any sudden increase in mortgage rates in the months ahead due to the persistent increases in median sales prices.

Hinds, Madison, Rankin

Rankin county lead the way with 624 closed sales, up 0.8 percent. Hinds county followed with 546 closed sales, an increase of 7.9 percent. Hinds county also reported the most significant year-over-year median sales price increase at 11.1 percent up to $125,000.

In Hinds, Madison, and Rankin counties the number of combined closed sales reached 1,620 and the median sales price was $169,000. New listings were up 2.6 percent to 2,844. Inventory levels in the tri-county area totaled just 2,771 units in April, down 7.2 percent compared to April 2016.

Regional

The median price in the South was $217,700, up 7.9 percent from a year ago. Existing single family homes priced between $0-100K were down 20.1 percent, homes priced between $100 - 250K were down 3.7 percent while homes priced between $250-500K were up 13.4 percent. Existing-home sales fell 5.0 percent to an annual rate of 2.30 million, but are still 3.6 percent above April 2016.

National

First-time buyers were reportedly one-third of all sales in April, which is up from 32 percent both in March and a year ago. NAR's 2016 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers - released in late 2016- revealed that the annual share of first-time buyers was 35 percent.

The median existing-home price for all housing types in April was $244,800, up 6.0 percent from April 2016 ($230,900). April's price increase marks the 62^nd straight month of year-over-year gains.

Here's a YTD snapshot of Hinds, Madison & Rankin Counties

County	New Listings	Closed Sales	Median Prices	Inventory Units	Months Supply
Hinds	1014	546	$125,000	1067	7.0
Madison	838	450	$220,950	900	7.0
Rankin	992	624	$165,000	804	4.6

(all figures are year-to-date

For additional statistics, view the CMMLS April Market Heartbeat. Watch NAR's April Market Summary press release here.

About Central Mississippi MLS, Inc.

Central Mississippi MLS Inc. and Central Mississippi REALTORS® are

"The Voice for Real Estate in Central Mississippi" and represent the largest real estate association in the state of Mississippi serving more than 1,800 licensed real estate professionals across ten counties of Central Mississippi (Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Yazoo, Holmes, Attala, Leake, Scott, Simpson and Copiah). To learn more about CMMLS, visit centralmsrealtors.org or call 601.948.1332.