Could Americans be feeling more optimistic? March was a much better month for sales across many of Terradatum’s Top 40 Markets when compared to February.

 Unit Sales of Residential Single Family Homes were up 35.3% versus February – although sales were down 7.7%% from March 2010.  39 of Terradatum’s Top 40 Markets experienced a double digit increase in unit sales month over month, with most markets seeing more than 20% increases (both Providence and Kansas City saw unit increases of 50+% month over month)!  Let’s hope that Spring continues to bring the consumers back to the housing market!

Prices Rose Modestly

At the same time, the prices for sold properties increased modestly across our sample cities in March (versus February).  Overall, Median Prices for Sold Properties increased by 2.5% in March (versus February).  However, prices for Sold properties were still 8% below the year before numbers (i.e., March 2010 levels).  This modest increase in prices may be an indication that sellers are feeling more confident.  The price swings across the markets were larger than we seen recently with several markets (e.g., Providence) seeing larger than 10% declines in prices for Sold properties while some markets (e.g., San Francisco) saw prices increases approaching 15% in March.