According to a survey from Campbell Communications and Inside Mortgage Finance, the winter of 2012 was unusual for home sales. There wasn’t a seasonal slowdown.
In most years (as, I suspect, you know), home sales are cyclical — rising in the spring, peaking in the summer, falling in the winter. But 2012 was different, according to the survey as reported by Housing Wire.
“According to our survey respondents, this is not a normal winter,” Campbell Surveys research director Thomas Popik said. “Time on market for non-distressed properties is much lower, and we already see our homebuyer traffic indexes building toward a strong spring/summer buying season.”
Wrote Housing Wire:
Not only did the 2012 winter numbers look strong, but the report showed signs of good things to come. Time on market, number of offers, closed transactions and sales prices were all improved at the end of 2012.
So why should you believe this survey, officially “The Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions”?
According to the companies, they use data from local MLSs, public deeds, and mortgage servicers to build a comprehensive picture. How true it that, and how much is marketing fluff? It probably depends on your individual market.
What did you see out there? Was it a busier December than normal?
