Home prices remained the same from September and were stable year-over-year as inventory continues to experience challenges for the fourth month in a row, according to a new report from Realtor.com.
Realtor.com’s Monthly Housing Trends Report for October found that the median listing price saw no change at $425,000, and was up 37.1% from 2019. Active listings were down 2%, and down 39% from 2019. New listings fell 3.2%, and were down 18.3% from 2019. Median days on the market fell by 1 day to 50, up 15 days from 2019. The share of active listings with price reductions dropped 2.6 percentage points to 18.9%, up 1.5 percentage points from 2019.
Key highlights:
- Pending listings, the number of homes under contract but not yet sold, declined -7.6% year-over-year.
- While newly listed homes were down -3.2% compared with last year, they improved from a YoY decline of -9.1% in September.
- Regionally, only the South saw inventory growth (+3.3%) YoY. Inventory declined -4.8% in the Midwest, -10.4% in the Northeast, and -24.7% in the West.
- While the number of homes for sale dropped in 33 out of 50 of the largest metros YoY (-6.7% in this group overall), some Southern metros still saw significant growth.
- Newly listed homes in the 50 largest metro areas also declined regionally, down -10.2% in the West, -6.2% in the Midwest, -3.6% in the South, and -2.3% in the Northeast.
- In the largest metros, the combined annual median list price growth rate for active listings was +5.5%, outpacing the national growth rate.
- While all regions saw listing prices in larger metros still increasing on average, Northeastern metros had the highest average growth rate in active listing prices (+9.3% year over year). Southern metros saw the lowest listing price growth rate among the regions (+3.1%).
- While the share of price reductions continues to climb month-over-month, the percentage of homes with price reductions decreased on an annual basis from 21.5% last year to 18.9% now.
- Price reductions remained below last year’s levels in all four regions, and were well below in the West (-10.6 percentage points).
- In the 50 largest metro areas, the typical home spent 42 days on the market, which is two days less YoY.
- Homes in large metros in the West spent four fewer days on the market YoY, three fewer days in the Northeast, one day less in the Midwest, and homes spent the same amount of time on the market compared to last year in the South.
Major takeaway:
“The current housing market continues to challenge homebuyers and sellers alike, but we do see signs of adjustment,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “While record-high mortgage rates are putting off many would-be buyers, decreases in both inventory and time homes spend on the market shows that some buyers are moving quickly to lock in rates before they can go any higher. Buyers did see some measure of relief in stable home prices this month, and we’ll be watching the rising share of listings with reduced prices to see how that impacts prices in the near future.”
Realtor.com’s Executive News Editor Clare Trapasso added, “Because high mortgage rates, elevated home prices, and stubbornly low inventory make today’s housing market particularly challenging, many of today’s buyers are motivated by life changes, such as growing families, supporting elderly parents or grown children, or accommodating professional needs, from return to office mandates to relocation opportunities created by remote work. On a positive note, our data shows that home shoppers with flexibility in their location choices can still find affordable options this fall.”
For the full report, click here.
