It’s more of the same for October. While a seasonal slowdown may be approaching, buyers are currently paying summer-high prices and homes are flying off the market.
According to realtor.com®’s Monthly Housing Trends report for October, homes sold in 53 days this month—13 days faster than last year and one day faster than September. Which areas are experiencing the most activity in terms of days on market? Within the nation’s 50 largest metros, Hartford, Conn., takes the lead at 23 days faster than last year, followed by Virginia Beach, Va., (-22 days) and San Diego, Calif., (-20 days). According to the report, Buffalo, N.Y. is the only metro to slow down, adding on seven days to its on-market time.
In terms of prices, the median listing price increased 12.2 percent YoY to $350,000 in October—an increase of 11.1 percent since September. Normally, prices would have dropped by about 1 to 4 percent since summer’s peak, but that hasn’t been the case. The following metros had the highest price gains in October: Los Angeles (+16.9 percent), Philadelphia (+16.7 percent) and Cincinnati (+16.3 percent). Regionally, the Northeast saw the largest price gain (+11.4 percent), followed by the West (+10.1 percent), the Midwest (+9 percent) and the South (+7.3 percent).
Overall, national inventory is down 38.3 percent (about half a million fewer fomes for sale than last year). While newly listed homes are down 7.7 percent YoY, things have improved a bit since September, when new listings were down 13.8 percent.
Here’s the regional breakdown for new listings:
– West (+7.2 percent)
– Northeast (+4.1 percent)
– Midwest (-9.5 percent)
– South (-13.8 percent)
Within the nation’s 50 largest metros, the number of homes for sale decreased by 38.6 percent. The metros with the largest declines in new listings compared to last year included:
– Nashville, Tenn. (-27.5 percent)
– Charlotte, N.C. (-22.9 percent)
– Richmond, Va. (-21.8 percent)
The metros which saw the most new listings hit the market included:
– San Jose, Calif. (+30.6 percent)
– New York (+28.2 percent)
– San Francisco (+25.9 percent).
