The Regional Multiple Listing Service released stats for April, and yes, the market is certainly active. 

More rising prices; median price for the first four months of this year is up  is up 15.6% over the same period in 2012 to $250,000.  The median price for April 2013, alone, is $257,000.

We have more pending and closed sales and inventory remains low with 3.1 months of inventory city wide; pending sales increased 11.9% from March 2013 and 24.4% from April 2012.  Closed sales are up 9.8% over March 2013 and 16.1 % over April 2012.

And our average market time remains low at 91 days city wide.  This is an average, so imagine how quickly the good ones are actually selling.

The real estate conversation is all about inventory.  There are plenty of buyers in the marketplace right now, hoping to get in before prices and interest rates rise.  But...there aren't so many houses to choose from, making multiple offers and bidding wars commonplace.    Low appraisals are a risk as prices are driven higher, so cash offers become quite appealing.  We are even seeing multiple cash offers; in some cases buyers needing to buy using financing  need not even submit offers.

The conversation is also about sustainability; can this market continue?  I don't think so. An amount of the pricing increase is being driven up by emotional decisions; winning the bidding war.  As prices rise, and more people can afford to sell, we'll see more houses come on the market, which will ease the inventory shortage.  And while I don't relish a return to the stagnant market of 2008-2011, a bit more balanced market would be welcome. 

So if you've been thinking of selling, now is a pretty good time.  Interest rates remain reasonably low such that more buyers can afford to buy at a certain price range.  As both interest rates and prices rise, the pool of buyers for any given price range will decrease.

See the full report.