Realtor.com® October Housing Report: Homes Sell at Breakneck Speed for the Eighth Month in a Row

Rhea-AI Summary

In October 2021, U.S. home sales surged to record levels, continuing a trend of rapid sales despite seasonal slowdowns. Buyers are facing a tight inventory, with active listings down 21.9% year-over-year and a median listing price of $380,000, reflecting an 8.6% increase from last year. Homes sold faster, averaging 45 days on the market. However, new listings decreased by 2.3%, exacerbating the demand-supply mismatch, particularly in key metros like Raleigh. Chief Economist Danielle Hale attributes the robust demand to rising mortgage rates and increased rental prices.

Positive

• Record-high home sales pace for eight consecutive months.
• Median listing price steady at $380,000, an 8.6% increase year-over-year.
• Homes sold faster, averaging 45 days on market, a significant improvement.

Negative

• Active inventory decreased by 21.9% compared to last year.
• New listings down 2.3% from 2020.
• Mismatched supply and demand hampers buyer options, particularly in major metros.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- New housing data shows 2021's feverish home sales pace broke a yearly record in October, even as fall sales activity followed steadier seasonal patterns. With last month marking the eighth straight month of buyers snatching up homes more quickly than the fastest pace in previous years and fewer new sellers entering the market than last year, inventory took a slight step back from recent months' improvements, according to the Realtor.com^® Monthly Housing Report released today.

"The year may be winding down, but 2021's feverish pace of home sales continues to hit new records. Despite returns to more typical pre-COVID seasonality which means a slower fall versus summer season, October housing data suggests that demand is still unseasonably high," said Realtor.com^® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. "A number of factors could be enabling buyers to persist, including rising mortgage rates and surging rental prices. Looking at the bigger picture of the pandemic, increased adoption of technology could be playing a key role in helping buyers move further along in the process virtually. With these 'serious searchers' – some of whom have been planning to buy since before the pandemic – better prepared to jump on new listings quickly and keeping inventory tight, mismatched supply and demand will continue to challenge buyers eager to move on to the next phase of life."

2021's feverish pace of home sales hits eighth month record
Fall buyers have a few more days to make decisions relative to the competitive spring and summer, but home shoppers still need to be prepared to act quickly. In each month from March-October 2021, the typical U.S. home spent fewer days on market than in the fastest-selling month in 2016-2020. Additionally, homes sold within a month or less in nearly one-quarter of the 50 largest U.S. markets, while buyers in just four metros saw an increase in time on market in October. 

• The typical U.S. home spent 45 days on market in October, moderating slightly from last month's pace (43 days). However, homes still sold more quickly than in any October in recent history, including 2020 (-8 days) and 2019 (-21 days).
• Relative to national time on market in October, homes sold at a faster pace in the 50 largest U.S. metros in October, at an average of 39 days (-8 days year-over-year).
• The South continued to lead in yearly declines in time on market (-10 days) by region and in terms of the top five fastest selling metros compared to last year, which were: Miami (-31 days), Raleigh (-30 days), Jacksonville (-17 days), Orlando (-17 days) and Memphis (-16 days).

Inventory improvements stall as the number of buyers overwhelmed the number of fall sellers
The number of homes for sale in the U.S. continues to lag, reflecting the mismatch of strong buyer demand with more typical fall seller activity levels. While October saw fewer new sellers than last year, a number of factors suggest that buyers are still relatively active, including the record-fast home sales pace. Additionally, every month in 2021 since January has seen a higher number of pending listings on Realtor.com^® – where the seller has already gone under contract with a buyer – than active listings, or those without a contract. With buyers still searching, the majority of for-sale homes already under contract and fewer new listings coming onto the market in October, active inventory took a step back from yearly improvements seen since June.

• The active inventory gap from last year shrunk slightly in October (-21.9%) over last month (-22.2%), but saw a smaller improvement than from June (-43.1%) to July (-33.5%). Compared to 2019, there are fewer than half (-51.9%) as many homes for-sale nationwide.
• Nationally, new listings declined 2.3% from 2020 in October, with the biggest drops registered in the northeast (-8.5%) and west (-8.0%). While big metros saw smaller new seller declines than last month, new listings remain 11.6% lower in 2017-2019.
• From February-October of this year, the supply of actively-listed homes on Realtor.com^® was outpaced by pending inventory, or listings that are under contract. This is the opposite of what occurred in a typical month from 2017-2019. Although the gap is shrinking from the peak difference seen in May (197,355), there were still 5,975 more pending than active listings nationwide in October.
• Across the 50 biggest U.S. markets, active inventory declined by an average of 20.5% year-over-year and new listings were down 4.8% in October.
• More new sellers entered the market than last year in over one-third (17) of big metros, with newly-listed homes posting double-digit gains in Austin (+15.3%), Memphis (+14.8%), Buffalo, N.Y. (+10.7%) and Jacksonville, Fla. (+10.3%).
• However, there were fewer new sellers than last year in the majority of big metros in October, with new listings declining at a double-digit pace in markets like Raleigh (-15.8%). With the typical Raleigh home selling in just 19 days, the metro's supply of active inventory remains at less than half of last year's levels (-50.7%).

"Emerging tech hubs like Raleigh have seen a rise in housing demand in recent years, exacerbated by increased mobility during the pandemic. Recent Realtor.com^® data shows that over one-third (35.3%) of Raleigh home shoppers are from major metros like NYC, DC and LA. Also home to one of our 2021 Hottest ZIP Codes, Brentwood, N.C., the Raleigh area is increasingly popular with first-time buyers like tech-savvy millennials," Hale added. "Home shopping from out-of-state comes with added challenges, so it's particularly important to do your due diligence. Sites like Realtor.com^® offer digital tools like its Real Estate app to help you find a home remotely, from taking virtual tours to learning about local crime and noise levels, and more."

Sellers continue to ask for near-record high prices as home price gains continue
For the third straight month, the U.S. median listing price remained near record-highs and steadily increased at a strong single-digit pace in October. Price gains continue moderating from the double-digit pace seen earlier this year, a potential indication that the housing market is transitioning toward a more sustainable long-term growth pace. However, the spring and summer frenzy has made a lasting impact on affordability challenges as buyers continue to quickly buy up the tight inventory of existing homes, fewer new sellers enter the market and the new home supply gap widens.

• The U.S. median listing price was $380,000 in October, remaining near July's record-high for the third month in a row. National listing price growth also held steady at a high single-digit pace, up 8.6% year-over-year in October.
• National listing price growth has been moderating from the double-digit pace seen earlier this year. However, this largely reflects a shift in the mix of for-sale inventory, with yearly median listing price growth for a typical 2,000 square-foot single family home still at double-digits in October (+16.7%). Additionally, the share of sellers making listing price adjustments^[1] still lags behind 2018-2019 levels, despite growing 0.8% year-over-year in October.
• The 50 largest U.S. markets saw a slight uptick in annual listing price growth in October, increasing by an average of 5.2% versus last month's rate of 4.1%. The western (+9.7%) and southern regions (+9.4%) led the nation in annual listing price gains, up by at least 18% in metros like Austin (+35.2%), Las Vegas (+27.2%), Tampa (21.8%), Orlando (+20.0%) and Denver (+18.3%).

Table 1: October 2021 Housing Metrics – National

Metric	October 2021	October 2021 Year-over-Year	October 2021 over October 2019
Median Listing Price	$380,000	+8.6%	+21.8%
Share of Price Reductions	17.4%	+0.8%	-4.6%
New Listings	378,048	-2.3%	-9.9%
Inventory of Active Listings	636,606	-21.9%	-51.9%
Inventory of Pending Listings	642,581	-6.4%	+48.8%
Time on Market	45 days	-8 days	-21 days

 

Table 2: October 2021 Housing Metrics – 50 Largest U.S. Metros

Metro	Median Listing Price	Median Listing Price YoY	Active Listing Count YoY	New Listing Count YoY	Median Days on Market	Median Days on Market Y-Y	Price Reduced Share	Price Reduced Share Y-Y
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.	$395,000	11.1%	-26.6%	5.7%	37	-9	18.3%	-4.2%
Austin-Round Rock, Texas	$550,000	32.5%	-8.1%	15.3%	32	-14	18.5%	5.0%
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.	$325,000	-4.4%	-5.0%	-2.7%	40	-3	20.6%	4.1%
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.	$280,000	7.7%	-28.5%	-5.3%	48	-3	15.2%	-0.1%
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.	$689,000	3.0%	-23.4%	-19.0%	30	-3	19.2%	-1.3%
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y.	$225,000	4.7%	-4.7%	10.7%	52	0	17.3%	-2.1%
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.	$399,000	9.3%	-27.9%	-5.1%	32	-11	18.0%	0.1%
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.	$330,000	-4.4%	-20.3%	-8.6%	41	-2	20.6%	0.2%
Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.	$310,000	0.0%	-11.3%	-11.0%	42	3	19.7%	2.1%
Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio	$190,000	-5.0%	-4.7%	0.9%	44	-3	24.3%	-1.5%
Columbus, Ohio	$290,000	-5.0%	-3.7%	8.7%	30	-5	25.3%	-3.4%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$398,000	11.8%	-33.9%	-3.5%	37	-10	21.8%	-3.9%
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.	$615,000	18.3%	-27.8%	-8.4%	28	-8	22.0%	-1.2%
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich.	$245,000	-8.9%	-7.2%	1.0%	32	-6	19.6%	2.1%
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.	$330,000	10.0%	-57.1%	-30.2%	40	-1	13.0%	5.3%
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas	$360,000	7.9%	-20.0%	-1.6%	45	-7	19.6%	0.8%
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.	$275,000	0.0%	-24.9%	5.1%	38	-5	30.5%	-7.1%
Jacksonville, Fla.	$370,000	16.3%	-27.8%	10.3%	38	-17	18.5%	3.2%
Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.	$325,000	-1.5%	-6.1%	-11.3%	46	-1	20.2%	-0.6%
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.	$439,000	27.2%	-31.5%	-6.1%	31	-10	19.2%	-2.8%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.	$975,000	-2.0%	-25.3%	-17.9%	49	0	13.3%	-2.5%
Louisville/Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.	$250,000	-3.1%	-3.7%	3.6%	31	-4	24.2%	-1.2%
Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.	$275,000	4.3%	-10.2%	14.8%	29	-16	17.9%	-2.9%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.	$475,000	15.9%	-47.9%	-16.7%	62	-31	13.2%	-2.0%
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.	$275,000	-8.3%	-6.3%	2.0%	39	-3	22.0%	5.8%
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.	$350,000	0.6%	-10.5%	-14.9%	36	-1	17.8%	2.8%
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tenn.	$450,000	12.5%	-37.1%	-9.8%	22	-10	17.4%	-1.7%
New Orleans-Metairie, La.	$340,000	3.3%	-16.4%	-13.3%	75	11	20.1%	-3.0%
New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.	$619,000	-3.1%	-14.9%	-18.4%	63	5	14.2%	-2.3%
Oklahoma City, Okla.	$271,000	0.4%	-21.5%	-2.7%	44	-4	22.0%	-3.8%
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.	$390,000	20.0%	-46.5%	-9.4%	42	-17	22.8%	-5.2%
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.	$320,000	-8.3%	-1.7%	-0.5%	49	1	20.9%	3.0%
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.	$485,000	16.7%	-16.3%	0.1%	32	-4	23.4%	-4.2%
Pittsburgh, Pa.	$226,000	-7.9%	-10.4%	1.7%	50	-7	23.4%	3.3%
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.	$550,000	7.8%	-13.9%	8.0%	37	-12	30.7%	0.5%
Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.	$430,000	7.5%	-12.7%	0.2%	35	-7	13.1%	2.2%
Raleigh, N.C.	$425,000	9.0%	-50.7%	-15.8%	19	-30	14.9%	-3.0%
Richmond, Va.	$350,000	-1.9%	-21.6%	-3.2%	43	-2	14.2%	2.0%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.	$549,000	16.8%	-6.3%	-4.1%	36	-5	12.1%	2.3%
Rochester, N.Y.	$211,000	-7.7%	-28.5%	-11.9%	23	-8	14.5%	-1.4%
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, Calif.	$595,000	8.4%	-1.6%	-2.5%	32	-3	15.4%	3.1%
San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas	$349,000	16.4%	-24.4%	0.3%	44	-9	20.7%	0.7%
San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.	$839,000	5.6%	-26.6%	-21.8%	47	N/A	13.5%	-2.2%
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.	$995,000	-5.1%	-25.2%	-9.4%	31	-4	13.7%	-2.8%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.	$1,250,000	4.3%	-31.9%	-13.7%	34	0	13.6%	-4.4%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.	$680,000	8.8%	-43.3%	-12.2%	34	-1	16.9%	-3.8%
St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.	$243,000	-2.0%	-19.3%	1.0%	50	-6	20.5%	-2.4%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.	$375,000	21.8%	-39.9%	-12.5%	37	-11	22.8%	-2.9%
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.	$314,000	-3.4%	-17.9%	-2.7%	30	-9	10.6%	4.4%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va.	$510,000	1.6%	8.3%	-0.9%	35	-1	16.9%	4.4%

Methodology
Realtor.com^® housing data as of October 2021. Listings include active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos/townhomes for the given level of geography; new construction is excluded unless listed via the MLS.

In this release, price adjustments are defined as home listings that had their price reduced in October 2021. Listings that had their prices increased during the month are excluded.

About Realtor.com^®
Realtor.com^® makes buying, selling, renting and living in homes easier and more rewarding for everyone. Realtor.com^® pioneered the world of digital real estate more than 20 years ago, and today through its website and mobile apps is a trusted source for the information, tools and professional expertise that help people move confidently through every step of their home journey. Using proprietary data science and machine learning technology, Realtor.com^® pairs buyers and sellers with local agents in their market, helping take the guesswork out of buying and selling a home. For professionals, Realtor.com^® is a trusted provider of 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. under a perpetual license from the National Association of REALTORS®. For more information, visit Realtor.com^®.

Media Contact
rachel.conner@move.com 

¹ In this release, price adjustments are defined as home listings that had their price reduced.

 

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SOURCE Realtor.com

FAQ

What were U.S. home sales records in October 2021?

In October 2021, U.S. home sales reached a record pace, marking the eighth consecutive month of increased sales.

What is the median listing price of homes in October 2021?

The median listing price in October 2021 was $380,000, reflecting an 8.6% year-over-year increase.

How long did homes take to sell in October 2021?

In October 2021, homes sold in an average of 45 days, a drop of 8 days compared to the previous year.

How did new listings perform in October 2021?

New listings declined by 2.3% from October 2020, contributing to the tight inventory in the market.

What factors are driving the high demand for homes in October 2021?

High demand is driven by rising mortgage rates and surging rental prices, along with increased buyer readiness.