Mid-Atlantic Housing Market Shows Signs of Moderate Recovery, Report Indicates

ROCKVILLE, Md., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. (MRIS), a leading provider of real estate information technology and the largest multiple listing service in the nation, announced that the Mid-Atlantic Housing Market showed signs of moderate recovery in the first quarter of 2010. MRIS today released its 2010 First Quarter Trends in Housing Report, a joint publication of MRIS and Delta Associates.

The report presented several market indicators that have improved over previous quarters and years in the Washington region. These indicators include:

• An increase in Sales volume by more than 9 percent in the first quarter of 2010 over the same time a year ago.
• Sales prices posting gains in each of the first three months of the year, with prices in March 2010 increasing 3.3 percent over March 2009, and expected to continue gaining traction throughout 2010.
• An average of 71 days on market, a decline from an average of 110 days one year earlier, and the lowest time on market since 2006.
• The metro area containing 5.7 months worth of inventory, which is below the normal, healthy ratio of inventory to sales of 6 months, signaling that demand is beginning to outpace supply.

Other factors contributing to the stabilization in the area include the addition of new, high-paying jobs in the Washington region, and continued low interest rates, according to the report.

"While the Mid-Atlantic housing market is not yet performing at the robust levels of 2005, it is clearly showing some important signs of recovery that are crucial to reestablishing a stable housing market," said David Charron, President and CEO of MRIS. "MRIS is pleased to provide valuable data and analysis with our partner, Delta Associates, to assist real estate professionals in presenting information about local market conditions to their customers."

The Trends in Housing Report is published quarterly and provides data and analysis on the housing market, the commercial real estate market, the apartment market and the condominium market in the Mid-Atlantic region. In addition, this quarter's report includes a spotlight on the City of Fairfax and Prince George's County.

To view or download a copy of the full report, please visit the News section of www.mris.com.

Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. (MRIS) is a leading provider of real estate information technology, and the largest multiple listing service in the nation. MRIS offers a portfolio of technology solutions, broker and agent software products and an industry-leading consumer portal, HomesDatabase.com. In addition, MRIS provides back-end technology to other MLS systems through CURE, a proprietary solution. MRIS serves more than 50,000 real estate professionals spanning the Mid-Atlantic region, including Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC and parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia. Visit www.mris.com.

Delta Associates, the research affiliate of Transwestern, is a firm of experienced professionals offering consulting and data services to the real estate industry for over 25 years.  The firm's practice is organized in four related areas:  (1) consulting, research and advisory services; (2) valuation services; (3) distressed asset recovery services; and (4) subscription data for select metro regions. Visit www.DeltaAssociates.com.

SOURCE Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc.