The U.S. supply of for-sale homes hit a milestone on the road to recovery from the shortage of the past two years in October, as active listings soared 33.5% year-over-year to the highest level since 2020, according to a new report from Realtor.com released this week.
Realtor.com®’s Monthly Housing Trends Report for October found that fewer home shoppers could afford to take advantage of the rise in available inventory, with time on market continuing to climb amid still-high listing prices. Both newly-listed homes (-15.9%) and pending listings (-30.0%) declined year-over-year.
October 2022 national housing metrics:
- The national median listing price went up 13.3% (to $425,000) from October 2021, 21.8% from 2020 and 37.1% from 2019.
- The national active listings went up 33.5% from 2021, 2.8% from 2020 and -37.6% from 2019.
- The national new listings dropped -15.9% from 2021, -23.1% from 2020 and -16.3% from 2019.
- The median days on market went up 6 days (to 51 days) from 2021, 5 days from 2020 and went down -18 days from 2019.
- The share of active listings with price reductions went up 10.3 percentage points (to 20.9%) from 2021, 10.7 percentage points (from 10.2%) in 2020 and 3.9 percentage points (from 17.0%) in 2019.
Additional key highlights:
- Among the 50 largest U.S. metros, 42 markets posted yearly active inventory gains in October, led by Phoenix (+173.9%), Raleigh (+167.4%) and Nashville (+145.0%). The number of for-sale homes was still down year-over-year in the remaining eight markets, by the largest amounts in Hartford (-25.7%), Virginia Beach (-11.0%) Milwaukee (-9.6%) and Chicago (-9.6%).
- On average across the 50 largest metros, no regions saw year-over-year new listing increases in October, with the greatest declines registered in the West (-20.6%), followed by the Northeast (-17.4%), Midwest (-15.0%) and South (-9.8%). Furthermore, newly-listed homes increased in just four markets: Nashville (+10.5%), New Orleans (+6.2%), Dallas (+5.6%) and San Antonio (+1.4%).
- Compared to October 2020, active inventory was higher in 32 of the 50 biggest markets, led by western (+33.9%) and southern metros (+7.2%): Phoenix (+132.0%), Austin (+120.8%), Riverside, California (+67.2%), Memphis (+59.7%) and Nashville (+55.7%). Inventory remained lower than two years ago in the Northeast (-21.1%) and Midwest (-7.9%).
- On average across the 50 largest U.S. metros, yearly listing-price growth entered single-digit territory in October (+9.2%). However, for-sale home prices continued to rise by double-digits year-over-year in 20 markets, led by Milwaukee (+34.5%), Miami (+25.1%) and Kansas City (+21.4%).
- Western (+18.9 percentage points) and southern metros (+13.6 percentage points) posted the greatest increases in the share of homes with price reductions: Phoenix (+35.9 percentage points), Austin (+31.2 percentage points) and Las Vegas (+24.4 percentage points).
- The metros where homes spent longest on the market compared to October 2021 were Raleigh (+27 days), Austin (+26 days), Phoenix (+21 days) and Las Vegas (+21 days).
- Time on market declined year-over-year in October in 10 of the 50 largest metros, led by New Orleans (-21 days), where last year’s pace was impacted by Hurricane Ida, followed by Richmond, Va. (-15 days) and Birmingham, Ala. (-6 days).
Major takeaway:
“As the rapid run-up in rates reshapes housing market dynamics this fall, both buyers and sellers are taking a step back to recalibrate their plans. Home shoppers are looking at a monthly mortgage payment that is roughly $1,000 higher than at this time last year, and incomes are rising but not by that much. Combined with asking prices that are still climbing at a double-digit yearly pace, the average American has taken a huge hit to their homebuying power,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com®. “Still, our data indicates that some aspiring homeowners are finding ways to make the most of inventory conditions, such as by exploring relatively affordable metros. For buyers with the flexibility, relocating to a lower-priced market could help offset higher mortgage costs. There’s also a takeaway for sellers in these areas – on a well-priced home, you could still see strong interest from these out-of-towners.”
For the full report, click here.
