Healthy Market for Home Sellers and Buyers

PITTSBURGH, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- West Penn Multi-List, Inc. has issued its monthly residential real estate report, and April brought good news for sellers and even better news for buyers. Compared with April 2015, the number of houses on the market (inventory) is down to a healthy level; the number of closed sales is up; and the average sales price of homes has increased.

"With inventory being at a healthy level of six months' supply, potential sellers can enter the market at a good time, with an average number of competing houses on the market, and potential buyers can have a healthy number of houses from which to choose," said Ron Croushore, current president of West Penn Multi-List, Inc., and owner and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services The Preferred Realty, Pittsburgh. "Buyers can find the right home quickly and should decide quickly because houses are not staying on the market for long."

A comparison of April 2016 and April 2015 data shows:

• New listings decreased 1.7 percent (4,297 in April 2016 versus 4,370 in April 2015);
• Closed sales increased 6.8 percent (2,244 in April 2016 versus 2,102 in April 2015);
• Average sales price increased 3.4 percent ($184,000 in April 2016 versus $178,000 in April 2015); and
• Months' supply of inventory was six months in April 2016 versus nine months in April 2015.

"With mortgage rates remaining low, buyers may be in the best position now to purchase a home," said Croushore. "Before even choosing a real estate agent and looking for a home, buyers should have a mortgage pre-approval letter in hand, which could give them a negotiating advantage over other buyers."

Statistical data in this report is supplied by West Penn Multi-List, Inc., the definitive source for real estate information for its 17-county service area – Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Clarion, Crawford, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Somerset, Venango, Washington and Westmoreland counties. For more information, visit http://www.westpennmls.com/.

Contact:Kristen Laney O'Toole [email protected]   412-327-2907

Maegen Laney Noble [email protected]  904-451-2644

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/healthy-market-for-home-sellers-and-buyers-300276056.html

SOURCE West Penn Multi-List, Inc.