In real estate, the traditional mantra was always location, location, location. In today's world of value-based purchasing, it's price, price, price. Around the country, prices have hit a psychological floor for buyers who now believe now is the time to get off the fence and get into the game of buying homes. Thus, slowly, prices and sales volume are starting to swing upward nationally.

The latest monthly statistics from the National Association of Realtors attest to the intrepid buying population putting their collective toes back in the home-buying pool. The association reported this month that "although conditions remain mixed around the country, unpublished snapshot data shows a number of areas are experiencing much higher sales activity than May 2007."

Browsers to RealtyTimes.com have heard reports of pending sales increases across the country, including, Florida, Texas, Michigan, California, Virginia and numerous other regions. Combined, that data is providing a glacial move in home sales region by region.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest rose 5.5 percent in May; Northeast existing-home sales rose 4.6 percent; in the West sales rose 2 percent. The south is the only large region to see a dip and it was less than 1 percent compared to last year's levels.

On the pricing front -- prices moved upward in May to a national average of $253,100 for all property types -- which marks about a $6,000 increase on the average from a month before and the highest dollar average for the year.

Published: July 11, 2008

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Mr. Carr is an award-winning real estate broker in Northern Virginia and authored "Real Estate Investing Made Simple: a commonsense approach to building wealth." He also contributed to Donald Trump’s book, "The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received," and is an active trainer and coach of top producers in the Washington DC market. As a sought-after expert on real estate, Mr. Carr has been featured on CNN, various broadcast outlets and was the former real estate editor for The Washington Times. He accepts questions at his blog www.RealEstateOlogy.org.