SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Despite the continued trend of record low inventory and unheard of price gains, the long overdue seasonal slowdown may be finally taking hold, according to realtor.com®‘s Weekly Housing Report for the week ending Oct. 24. The latest report showed continued improvement in newly listed homes and a slight softening in buyer interest, which could bring some relief to those still in the market hunting for a new home during the final two months of the year.
“The number of buyers in the market remains well above the seasonal norm, but this week’s data shows sellers may be losing some of their grip when it comes to having the upper hand. For the first time since June, we saw an unseasonably large share of price reductions and a slight softening in buyer demand,” said Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com®. “Months of double-digit price gains and a record low number of homes for sale may finally be translating into buyer fatigue in many markets. If this continues, we may see price reductions ramp up and quick home sales ease through the end of the year.”
Newly listed homes bring more options to weary buyers
- New listings showed their biggest improvement since the start of the pandemic and a significant increase over the previous week.
- Newly listed homes ended the week down 2% year-over-year, a significant improvement from the week of Oct. 17 when new listings were 6% lower than a year ago.
- Although the total number of homes available for sale continues to be down 38% year-over-year, the market has seen six consecutive weeks of steady or improving decline.
Home prices remain high, but price reductions are on the rise
- Listing prices extended their streak of double-digit growth, ending the week of Oct. 24 up 12.2%. The price of the typical home for sale remains unchanged at $350,000 and $38,0000 above last year.
- The number of properties with price reductions is moving more toward seasonal norms, suggesting price gains may begin to ease in the coming weeks. The share of price reductions reached 5.5% for the week of Oct. 24, an increase from the early pandemic period in April where price reductions averaged 3.7%, and closer to the more normal 6.5% seen this time last year.
- With few options, homes continue to sell quickly. The average time on market is now a full two weeks faster than a year ago.
U.S. housing market shows signs of more balanced conditions
- Realtor.com® tracks the overall strength of the housing market through its proprietary Housing Market Recovery Index, which compares real-time key indicators, including trends in number of searchers on realtor.com®, median listing prices, the number of newly listed homes, and the time it takes to sell to January 2020, prior to the pandemic.
- The index reached a new high of 112.4 nationwide for the week ending Oct. 24, 12.4 points above the pre-COVID baseline and an increase of 1.5 points over last week.
- The index tells us that although demand for housing still outweighs supply, the U.S. housing market is shifting toward a more normal buyer/seller balance, which is good news for home shoppers.
Metro | Median Listing Price YoY | Total Listings YoY | Median Days on Market YoY |
9.1% | -54.1% | 9 days faster | |
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y. | 13.1% | -41.5% | 16 days faster |
14.8% | -50.1% | 10 days faster | |
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J. | 21.3% | -57.1% | 34 days faster |
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga. | 9.9% | -44.6% | 7 days faster |
Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-S.C. | 9.0% | -48.9% | 32 days faster |
Austin-Round Rock, Texas | 18.0% | -48.8% | 13 days faster |
19.3% | -47.1% | 14 days faster | |
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md. | 3.1% | -51.4% | 10 days faster |
Baton Rouge, La. | 12.7% | -39.4% | 6 days faster |
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala. | 1.6% | -36.5% | 19 days faster |
Boise City, Idaho | 19.4% | -70.7% | 6 days faster |
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H. | 12.7% | -27.8% | 12 days faster |
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. | 0.0% | -26.0% | 43 days faster |
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y. | 9.6% | -48.1% | 6 days slower |
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. | 11.2% | -38.0% | 16 days faster |
Charleston-North Charleston, S.C. | 13.1% | -43.4% | 21 days faster |
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C. | 9.2% | -48.9% | 14 days faster |
Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga. | 12.3% | -52.7% | 13 days faster |
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. | 9.0% | -33.2% | 7 days faster |
Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind. | 13.2% | -43.8% | 12 days faster |
Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio | 5.3% | -48.1% | 18 days faster |
7.0% | -53.9% | 12 days faster | |
Columbia, S.C. | 7.4% | -48.3% | 21 days faster |
Columbus, Ohio | 12.7% | -47.4% | 11 days faster |
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas | 3.8% | -46.9% | 10 days faster |
Dayton, Ohio | 15.9% | -45.4% | 12 days faster |
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla. | 5.3% | -42.7% | 25 days faster |
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo. | 5.7% | -43.7% | 10 days faster |
Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa | 3.7% | -34.0% | 10 days faster |
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich | 12.6% | -47.4% | 8 days faster |
Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. | 15.1% | -45.5% | 15 days faster |
El Paso, Texas | 16.9% | -46.7% | 10 days faster |
7.0% | -57.0% | 20 days faster | |
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich | 9.1% | -47.7% | 2 days faster |
Greensboro-High Point, N.C. | 5.3% | -50.5% | 17 days faster |
Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, S.C. | 3.9% | -40.5% | 10 days faster |
Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa. | 14.9% | -56.0% | 5 days faster |
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn. | 7.2% | -29.3% | 24 days faster |
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas | 8.2% | -33.3% | 11 days faster |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind. | 3.8% | -47.7% | 13 days faster |
Jackson, Miss. | 15.6% | -46.5% | 25 days faster |
0.7% | -45.3% | 16 days faster | |
Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. | 10.1% | -48.6% | 10 days faster |
Knoxville, Tenn. | 11.9% | -53.2% | 18 days faster |
Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla. | 7.7% | -30.2% | 6 days faster |
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev. | 7.8% | -5.1% | 9 days faster |
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark. | 17.5% | -50.2% | 19 days faster |
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif. | 16.4% | -20.3% | 7 days faster |
Louisville/Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind. | 0.1% | -50.5% | 15 days faster |
7.3% | -44.2% | 12 days faster | |
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas | 17.9% | -44.1% | 39 days faster |
Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. | 12.3% | -49.7% | 14 days faster |
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla. | 2.1% | -17.2% | No change |
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis. | 2.4% | -37.1% | 7 days faster |
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis. | 1.5% | -29.8% | 8 days faster |
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, Tenn. | 8.1% | -44.6% | 6 days faster |
New Haven-Milford, Conn. | 7.6% | -23.3% | 28 days faster |
New Orleans-Metairie, La. | 18.0% | -38.2% | 7 days faster |
New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. | 17.0% | -2.3% | 9 days faster |
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla. | 4.2% | -36.2% | 19 days faster |
6.3% | -41.6% | 3 days faster | |
Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa | 4.0% | -47.6% | 12 days slower |
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla. | 1.6% | -20.9% | 5 days faster |
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif. | 13.4% | -47.5% | 16 days faster |
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla. | 6.7% | -41.7% | 7 days faster |
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. | 16.7% | -41.2% | 13 days faster |
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. | 8.8% | -41.7% | 7 days faster |
25.3% | -39.0% | 13 days faster | |
Portland-South Portland, Maine | 8.1% | -46.5% | 35 days faster |
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash. | 9.7% | -44.7% | 2 days faster |
Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass. | 5.5% | -52.1% | 10 days faster |
Raleigh, N.C. | 7.0% | -46.5% | 14 days faster |
Richmond, Va. | 14.4% | -48.9% | 7 days faster |
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. | 15.9% | -53.3% | 11 days faster |
Rochester, N.Y. | 14.3% | -42.2% | 15 days faster |
Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif. | 12.5% | -45.9% | 15 days faster |
11.2% | -49.2% | 14 days faster | |
San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas | 3.8% | -42.1% | 8 days faster |
San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif. | 11.2% | -24.1% | 13 days faster |
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif. | 11.5% | -0.2% | 4 days faster |
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. | 9.2% | -14.9% | 9 days faster |
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, Pa. | 18.8% | -53.1% | 37 days faster |
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. | 5.1% | -33.9% | 9 days faster |
Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash. | 7.2% | -49.0% | 7 days faster |
Springfield, Mass. | 18.2% | -46.2% | 17 days faster |
St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. | 9.8% | -38.8% | 10 days faster |
Stockton-Lodi, Calif. | 7.0% | -62.0% | 9 days faster |
7.8% | -44.2% | 4 days faster | |
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. | 8.3% | -42.6% | 14 days faster |
Toledo, Ohio | 9.4% | -42.2% | 13 days faster |
Tucson, Ariz. | 6.9% | -42.4% | 6 days faster |
8.0% | -40.3% | 8 days faster | |
Urban Honolulu, Hawaii | -11.6% | 27.0% | 2 days slower |
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. | 6.9% | -45.9% | 21 days faster |
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va. | 4.4% | -35.6% | 8 days faster |
Wichita, Kan. | 10.6% | -37.3% | 17 days faster |
Winston-Salem, N.C. | 7.4% | -47.6% | 16 days faster |
Worcester, Mass.-Conn. | 10.3% | -51.5% | 25 days faster |
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa. | 11.3% | -53.4% | 23 days faster |
About realtor.com®
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Media contact:
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SOURCE realtor.com