Realtor.com® August Housing Report: Home Prices Tick Up After Two Months of Declines
- Home prices rose by 0.7% in August, indicating a potential return of seller activity. Newly listed homes increased by 3.5%, providing more options for home shoppers. Mortgage rates are expected to gradually ease through the end of the year.
- Active inventory shrank by 7.9%, putting upward pressure on home prices. Affordability concerns remain as home prices are up 38% from August 2019 levels and mortgage rates have increased by 21.7%.
In August, active inventory shrank compared to last year (-
"While the uptick in new listings is good news for home shoppers, inventory remains persistently low, even with record-high mortgage rates putting a damper on demand," said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Realtor.com®. "The inventory crunch continues to put upward pressure on home prices, amplifying affordability concerns and shutting some potential buyers out of the market. However, we anticipate mortgage rates will gradually ease through the end of the year and, despite this month's bump in home prices, we'll be unlikely to see a new price peak this year."
What it means for homebuyers, sellers, and the housing market
Although home sellers were less active in August compared to last year, the increase in newly listed homes for sale from July to August creates a nice boost for shoppers heading into fall, which is typically the best time to buy a home. Homeowners who have been on the fence about selling will likely find eager buyers looking for fresh listings.
"As fall buying activity heats up, the newly available homes for sale aren't likely to remain on the market long, so sellers and hopeful homebuyers will need to be prepared to move quickly," said Realtor.com® Executive News Editor Clare Trapasso. "Home shoppers can save searches on Realtor.com® to receive real-time alerts, receive mortgage pre-approvals, and pore over their budgets to determine what they can realistically afford with today's higher mortgage rates."
Affordability remains a significant concern. Although sales of new homes are on the rise, construction activity isn't sufficiently robust to offset the inventory shortage and ease prices, which are up nearly
August 2023 Housing Metrics – National
Metric | Change over Aug 2022 | Change over Aug 2019 |
Median listing price | + | +37.9 % |
Active listings | -7.9 % | -45.8 % |
New listings | -7.5 % | -19.3 % |
Median days on market | +5 days (to 46 days) | -13 days |
Share of active listings with price | -3.1 percentage points (to | -1.4 percentage points |
Year over year home prices rise in August after two months of annual declines
In August, national home listing prices rose slightly compared to last year, ending a two-month streak of year-over-year price declines in June and July, buoyed by a scarce inventory of homes for sale across the country. Despite listing prices being slightly higher than in August of last year, the median list price is unlikely to surpass last year's record peak of
- The
U.S. median list price fell to$435,000 $440,000 0.7% ) from August of last year. - While all regions saw listing prices in larger metros increase on average, Northeastern metros had the highest growth rate in active listing prices, with an average increase of
9.7% over the past year. - Among the 50 largest
U.S. metros, only 7 saw their median list price decline compared with this time last year, down from 12 last month. The greatest year-over-year price declines were seen inRaleigh (-4.6% ) andLas Vegas (-2.8% ). Larger southern metros saw the lowest listing price growth rate among the regions (3.2% ). - Nationally, the share of homes with price reductions decreased from
19.3% in August of last year to16.2% this year, and remains below typical levels seen in 2017 to 2019. - Among the 50 largest metros, the largest increases in the percentage of homes with price reductions compared to last year were in
San Antonio (+3.9 percentage points),Memphis (+3.7), andOklahoma City (+1.9).
Newly listed homes improve from July, but inventory crunch continues
While the market saw an unusual bump in newly listed homes for sale between July and August this year, the overall number of homes actively for sale shrank for the second consecutive month, reversing the consistent growth trajectory seen since April 2022. Some of this drop can be attributed to an off-season surge in inventory during a market slowdown last summer. Although active inventory still remains below typical pre-pandemic levels seen between 2017 and 2019, the modest rise in new homes listed for sale this summer could give buyers grappling with affordability issues more options.
- Nationally, active inventory shrank -
7.9% year over year in August compared to last year. On average, active inventory in August was -47.8% below typical 2017–2019 levels. - Pending listings, or homes under contract, declined by
11.5% compared to the same time last year, which is slightly smaller than July's12.6% decline and much improved from December's peak decline (-36.9% year over year). - Newly listed homes were
7.5% below last year's levels, but this rate of decline is much improved from a decline of20.8% in July. Newly listed homes increased by3.5% from July to August. - In all regions, the inventory of homes actively for sale was down
30% –60% from pre-pandemic levels. Inventory declined least in the South, by1.5% compared to the same time last year, followed by a decline of13.5% in the Midwest,19.3% in the Northeast, and31.5% in the West. - In August, only
Milwaukee (+6.8% ) andJacksonville (+4.0% ) saw new listings increase over the same time last year. Declines in new listings were greatest inNashville (-27.2% )Cincinnati (-25.0% ) andSeattle (-24.7% ).
As inventory shrinks, homes in several large markets sell faster compared to last year
The time homes spend on the market is approaching last year's quicker figures, with buyers again vying for fewer available options than the prior year in most parts of the country. Should this pattern continue, by the coming month homes in every region except the South are likely to sell faster than they did during the same period last year.
- In August, the typical home spent 46 days on the market, 5 days longer than this time last year, but 13 fewer days than they did on average from August 2017–2019.
- Time on market increased in August compared to last year in 35 of the 50 largest metro areas. Larger metros in the South saw the greatest increase (+6 days), followed by the Northeast (+2 days), Midwest (+1 day) and West (+0 days).
- At the market level, time on market increased the most in
Austin andNew Orleans (+15 days), as well as inMiami (+13 days).
August 2023 Housing Overview by Top 50 Largest Metros
Metro Area | Median | Median | Median | Active | New Listing | Median | Median | Price | Price |
1.2 % | 1.2 % | -13.8 % | -18.0 % | 41 | 5 | 18.3 % | -3.3 pp | ||
-1.2 % | -2.0 % | 4.7 % | -17.1 % | 55 | 15 | 35.5 % | -4.6 pp | ||
7.8 % | 4.8 % | -25.0 % | -13.7 % | 37 | 1 | 13.0 % | -3.2 pp | ||
4.0 % | 4.7 % | 10.5 % | -11.0 % | 44 | 8 | 16.7 % | -0.2 pp | ||
16.4 % | 13.1 % | -21.3 % | -11.0 % | 37 | 3 | 12.8 % | -3.5 pp | ||
6.0 % | 7.5 % | -16.8 % | -5.4 % | 39 | 3 | 7.8 % | -1.5 pp | ||
1.1 % | 4.9 % | -19.0 % | -18.9 % | 38 | 2 | 15.2 % | -5.5 pp | ||
10.0 % | 5.2 % | -27.6 % | -10.5 % | 36 | -1 | 12.1 % | -4.3 pp | ||
16.3 % | 8.9 % | -6.9 % | -25.0 % | 32 | 2 | 10.0 % | -3.8 pp | ||
11.1 % | 6.9 % | -24.2 % | -12.1 % | 39 | 0 | 14.3 % | -2.1 pp | ||
14.6 % | 7.9 % | -9.5 % | -19.0 % | 26 | -1 | 19.5 % | 1.0 pp | ||
0.4 % | -1.2 % | 2.4 % | -13.4 % | 42 | 7 | 24.8 % | -1.6 pp | ||
3.7 % | 4.9 % | -9.1 % | -9.7 % | 35 | 4 | 23.9 % | -7.0 pp | ||
0.0 % | 1.2 % | -24.5 % | -15.9 % | 36 | 4 | 14.1 % | -9.3 pp | ||
7.0 % | 6.9 % | -28.6 % | -14.5 % | 37 | 5 | 7.0 % | -2.4 pp | ||
-2.0 % | -0.8 % | 0.0 % | -9.4 % | 42 | 4 | 19.7 % | -3.0 pp | ||
8.0 % | 5.7 % | 0.3 % | -8.4 % | 36 | 1 | 21.9 % | 1.7 pp | ||
1.8 % | 0.8 % | -3.7 % | 4.0 % | 49 | 9 | 21.9 % | -2.6 pp | ||
12.3 % | 7.7 % | -4.1 % | -11.9 % | 50 | 4 | 15.6 % | 1.3 pp | ||
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 43 | N/A | 15.4 % | N/A | ||
22.4 % | 8.8 % | -30.2 % | -17.8 % | 41 | 1 | 10.5 % | -8.5 pp | ||
7.5 % | 5.1 % | -13.5 % | -11.5 % | 32 | 1 | 16.6 % | -3.0 pp | ||
2.5 % | 3.0 % | 30.7 % | -4.9 % | 46 | 8 | 20.4 % | 3.7 pp | ||
-0.7 % | 4.1 % | 0.1 % | -7.7 % | 62 | 13 | 12.3 % | -2.4 pp | ||
6.0 % | 8.8 % | -20.9 % | 6.8 % | 29 | -3 | 13.2 % | -0.7 pp | ||
7.7 % | 3.5 % | -11.1 % | -6.6 % | 37 | 0 | 14.0 % | -2.5 pp | ||
9.1 % | 4.4 % | 12.6 % | -27.2 % | 37 | 11 | 22.7 % | -4.2 pp | ||
1.7 % | 0.9 % | 29.2 % | -8.3 % | 64 | 15 | 21.7 % | -1.2 pp | ||
10.3 % | 15.4 % | -18.4 % | -13.5 % | 59 | 5 | 7.6 % | -2.1 pp | ||
6.7 % | 1.8 % | 7.7 % | -1.4 % | 43 | 3 | 20.7 % | 1.9 pp | ||
1.3 % | 1.0 % | -8.8 % | -10.3 % | 46 | 7 | 18.9 % | -2.6 pp | ||
3.1 % | 4.9 % | -20.6 % | -11.8 % | 45 | 1 | 12.3 % | -1.7 pp | ||
7.6 % | -1.2 % | -46.9 % | N/A | 45 | 8 | 20.8 % | -21.6 pp | ||
7.5 % | 0.6 % | -10.5 % | -8.4 % | 48 | 5 | 15.9 % | -3.1 pp | ||
8.1 % | 1.3 % | -5.4 % | -11.9 % | 41 | 5 | 18.8 % | -10.5 pp | ||
15.8 % | 1.2 % | -26.6 % | -10.8 % | 30 | -3 | 7.8 % | -4.1 pp | ||
-4.6 % | -1.0 % | -15.9 % | -20.4 % | 40 | 10 | 14.1 % | -8.7 pp | ||
13.5 % | 7.0 % | -5.9 % | -7.4 % | 39 | 1 | 9.4 % | -1.1 pp | ||
-1.8 % | 2.6 % | -30.1 % | -19.5 % | 47 | 3 | 14.6 % | -8.7 pp | ||
11.1 % | 9.3 % | -11.5 % | -3.0 % | 16 | -7 | 9.3 % | -1.7 pp | ||
9.4 % | 1.3 % | -39.3 % | -24.2 % | 37 | -2 | 16.2 % | -13.5 pp | ||
-1.6 % | 0.1 % | 18.4 % | -16.2 % | 51 | 12 | 27.3 % | 3.9 pp | ||
22.6 % | 12.0 % | -44.6 % | -17.4 % | 33 | -3 | 11.8 % | -12.2 pp | ||
0.6 % | -0.6 % | -31.4 % | -20.0 % | 33 | -3 | 10.7 % | -6.9 pp | ||
6.3 % | 1.6 % | -42.6 % | -4.3 % | 27 | -10 | 9.8 % | -8.4 pp | ||
3.2 % | 6.6 % | -35.3 % | -24.7 % | 33 | -1 | 14.9 % | -7.4 pp | ||
2.7 % | 2.4 % | -6.4 % | -2.5 % | 37 | 0 | 13.1 % | -1.3 pp | ||
1.2 % | 3.6 % | -9.8 % | -10.3 % | 44 | 7 | 22.1 % | -5.4 pp | ||
9.6 % | 6.8 % | -1.2 % | -19.0 % | 31 | -2 | 16.2 % | -0.7 pp | ||
7.9 % | 6.8 % | -31.1 % | -13.6 % | 35 | -1 | 11.6 % | -5.4 pp |
*Some Las Vegas and |
Methodology
Realtor.com® housing data as of August 2023. Listings include the active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos/townhomes/rowhomes/co-ops for the given level of geography on Realtor.com®; new construction is excluded unless listed via an MLS that provides listing data to Realtor.com®. Realtor.com® data history goes back to July 2016. 50 largest
About Realtor.com®
Realtor.com® is an open real estate marketplace built for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of digital real estate more than 25 years ago. Today, through its website and mobile apps, Realtor.com® is a trusted guide for consumers, empowering more people to find their way home by breaking down barriers, helping them make the right connections, and creating confidence through expert insights and guidance. For professionals, Realtor.com® is a trusted partner for business growth, offering consumer connections and branding solutions that help them succeed in today's on-demand world. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. For more information, visit Realtor.com®.
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SOURCE Realtor.com
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