Realtor.com March data indicates that the amount of homes on the market showed a modest increase since February 2013

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Realtor.com, the leader in online real estate operated by Move, Inc. (NASDAQ:MOVE), today released its March data on the U.S. housing market that shows growing optimism and confidence among potential sellers. Realtor.com’s March 2013 data indicates that while national housing inventory decreased 15.22 percent since last year, the number of listings increased 2.36 percent since February 2013. This month-over-month increase indicates a renewed willingness in sellers to put their homes on the market as list prices increased .05 percent both year-over-year and month-over-month to a national average list price of $190,000. The data also showed that the median age of inventory dropped to 78 days — a decrease of 20.41 percent since February.

“The newest data shows that the outlook is optimistic for the overall real estate recovery,” said Steve Berkowitz, chief executive officer of Move, Inc. “The housing market is a key indicator for the national economy, and things are slowly picking up steam. The next three months will be significant in determining the impact of the recovering housing market.”

A month-over-month inventory increase of 2.36 percent reflects a rise in new property listings since February 2013, but there are drastically fewer homes on the market compared with this time last year (15.22 percent less). While the median age of housing inventory continues to decline year-over-year by 12.35 percent, the amount of time houses are sitting on the market has decreased dramatically by 20 days since February, suggesting that a broad-based housing recovery is beginning to take hold.