Although there are many signs that the housing market may be starting to come back, the real upswing in purchases only applies to homes under $300,000 and luxury home sales are flat!

If you look at the graph, obviously all sales are down since 2009 but we have had the recession hit and those government programs to help buyers have been over with for almost 2 years now so sales are still down but they are starting to pick up again.  If you are buying or selling in the under $300,000 range there is some fierce competition right now with more buyers than homes for sale specifically in the traditional sale market which is causing many multiple offer situations which is great for sellers.  For homes over $300,000 and luxury homes, sales are down slightly again from last year and the buyers are just not out there right now.  Pulling it all together, this means that if you are a move up buyer, you need to move as it is an excellent home to sell your current home and purchase that more expensive home!  Home sellers of the more expensive homes are still having to make some concessions in order to get their homes sold in most cases.