According to the latest report from the Lawrence Board of Realtors, the housing market produced a big bang in May. Home sales for the month were up 56 percent — totaling 142 — compared to the same period a year ago. The numbers are up almost 78 percent from two years ago.

The numbers continue a theme of 2013 being a bounce-back year for the local real estate market.
Through the first five months of the year, housing sales are up almost 40 percent compared to the same period a year ago. They’re up 55 percent from the same period two years ago.

For the year, real estate agents have sold 403 houses in Lawrence. The even better number for the economy is that agents have sold 41 newly-constructed homes. That’s up 64 percent from a year ago.
The report was full of positive numbers. They included:

• The median number of days a home sits on the market before selling is now down to 58 days, compared to 73 a year ago.

• The number of active listings on the market is 394, down from 586 a year ago and 676 two years ago. The number of newly-constructed homes on the market now totals only 24. That’s down from 44 a year ago and 63 two years ago.

• The median selling price of a home thus far for 2013 is $169,000, up 7 percent from the $158,000 mark a year ago.

• Indications are that June was a busy month for sales as well. Agents wrote sales contracts for 147 properties in May, up from 126 in May 2012. Many of those contracts are expected to be converted into sales in the June reporting period.

It will be interesting to see what the next few months hold for the market. Everybody is keeping a close eye on interest rates, which spiked last week but have started to come back down. Real estate agents now are alerting buyers of a potential rise in rates.

“People trying to time the market should be making their move now,” said John Esau, a local Realtor and president of the Lawrence Board of Realtors.