Higher-priced housing market may be picking up

We'll have a more definitive idea of what's going on when Dataquick comes out with its sales report for March, but THR's Daniel Miller is hearing about stepped-up activity on the Westside.

Although the information is anecdotal, several agents told The Hollywood Reporter that their business on the Westside in areas such as Brentwood and Holmby Hills exploded in March, with some saying they closed four, five and even six deals during the month (data on March sales is not yet available). But the uptick, which brokers have begun calling "March Madness," didn't come out of nowhere. It started the old-fashioned way: Sellers lowered their asking prices, which were down 5 percent year-over-year on the Westside and appear to be hitting a sweet spot. Agent Drew Fenton of Hilton & Hyland says momentum began building in January, "in February it climbed, and then in March took off."