Demand in February was pretty much on par with the same month last year and there was thankfully an uptick in terms of buyer activity, which increased by 65%, compared with January, when buyers were told by the Federal Reserve that mortgage interest rates were coming down, but they unfortunately started floating back up, leading to a drastic decrease in buyers putting homes under contract in January.

Inventory of available homes on the market was at 687 for last month and in March we are at 689. It's staying pretty much level right now, but as we head into spring, if history is any guide, we are going to see an increase in inventory, but not a whole lot.

We are still dealing with the "sellers' strike" right now, where the majority of home owners out there have a very attractive interest rate and are unwilling to give that up.

As far as home values are concerned, Prescott saw a slight 1.5% decline in February, Prescott Valley was up by 1%, with a small 3% drop MLS-wide, because of some of the tertiary markets out there.

Year-over-year, however, and this is important whether you're a buyer or a seller, real estate has appreciated by 4% MLS-wide. So keep in mind that values are continuing to tick up.

The average number of days a home is on the market before a contract is received is shrinking a little bit, another positive sign, probably corresponding with the uptick in buyer activity.

We've recently been looking at close to 90 to 95 days on market. Right now Prescott is running at about 79 days and about 82 days MLS-wide. Remember to add about 30 to 45 days to allow for closing.

When you look at the active inventory that's out there right now, those 689 properties are on the market for an average of 115 days, priced at about 23% ($356 per square foot) above the average home that's selling on our market.

The active inventory includes about 360 homes in Prescott, 177 or so in Prescott Valley and 52 in Chino Valley.

So what does all this mean? Well we have about a four month supply of inventory.

I read a recent article published by Business Insider that pointed out that buyers looking to buy a property should be conscious that, due to the "lock-in" of sellers with great mortgage rates, many are not wanting to sell, so the forecast is for very low inventory for the foreseeable future.

So if you're a buyer waiting for higher levels of inventory and lower interest rates, keep in mind that, according to the same article by Capital Economics, home values will be appreciating by about 5% this year nationally.

Therefore sitting back and waiting for those interest rates to come down a little bit could mean that you might miss the boat, because entering the market when rates finally hit around 6.5% means you'll be offering 2%, 3% or 4% above list price again, finding yourself right back in that competitive environment we saw a couple of years back.

So, if you're a buyer, the time is now. If you're a seller and want to know where you stand among the active inventory and what your home is worth right now call us any time at 928-237-4425.

We're here to help and look forward to hearing from you.

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