Due to consumers regaining their confidence in the housing market, it looks like Memphis movers will be staying busy, according to Regions Bank manager Dean Puryear. The bank has seen a 14 percent gain in its mortgage volume year over year, while country-wide mortgage market has had a positive month – not just the Memphis mortgage market – with total mortgage volume up 8 percent as a whole. In total, the amount of mortgage volume increased $5.6 million from February 2014 to February 2015 – up from $72.4 million to $78 million.

Simultaneously, the number of mortgages created, as well as the average mortgage amount, increased throughout the same time span; with mortgages increasing from 457 to 464, and the average amounts of mortgages up from $158,446 to $168,933.

According to Puryear, “with the pullback we saw that occurred for rates in January, there was a lot of optimism around the affordability of housing, so we now have a lot of people pursuing the act of purchasing a house. They’re in the process of getting approved, they’re searching for homes and they’re putting offers in. So, I think activity is growing. Traditionally in the second quarter, everyone also wants to get moved with their kids out of school before they’re back in school, so that also drives the market.”

However, in the month of February 2015, home sales were not as high in Shelby County as compared to earlier dates. Compared to February 2014, home sales were down 6 percent. On the other hand, the average selling price for the month was up 22 percent, at $150,371.