Realtor.com® Weekly Housing Report: Home Buyers Stand to Benefit from New Listings Trend Improvement

Rhea-AI Summary

Realtor.com®'s Weekly Housing Report reveals signs of a seasonal slowdown in the U.S. housing market as of Oct. 24, 2020. Newly listed homes show a 2% year-over-year decline, although this marks an improvement from previous weeks. Home prices grew 12.2%, maintaining a typical listing price of $350,000. Notably, price reductions increased to 5.5%, signaling potential easing in price gains. The Housing Market Recovery Index hit a high of 112.4, suggesting a shift toward better buyer-seller balance despite ongoing demand.

Positive

• Newly listed homes improved 2% week-over-week.
• Price reductions increased, approaching seasonal norms.
• Housing Market Recovery Index reached a new high of 112.4.

Negative

• Total listings down 38% year-over-year.
• Price reductions still below last year's 6.5% average.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the continued trend of record low inventory and unheard of price gains, the long overdue seasonal slowdown may be finally taking hold, according to realtor.com^®'s Weekly Housing Report for the week ending Oct. 24. The latest report showed continued improvement in newly listed homes and a slight softening in buyer interest, which could bring some relief to those still in the market hunting for a new home during the final two months of the year.

"The number of buyers in the market remains well above the seasonal norm, but this week's data shows sellers may be losing some of their grip when it comes to having the upper hand.  For the first time since June, we saw an unseasonably large share of price reductions and a slight softening in buyer demand," said Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com^®. "Months of double-digit price gains and a record low number of homes for sale may finally be translating into buyer fatigue in many markets. If this continues, we may see  price reductions ramp up and quick home sales ease through the end of the year."

Newly listed homes bring more options to weary buyers

• New listings showed their biggest improvement since the start of the pandemic and a significant increase over the previous week.
• Newly listed homes ended the week down 2% year-over-year, a significant improvement from the week of Oct. 17 when new listings were 6% lower than a year ago.
• Although the total number of homes available for sale continues to be down 38% year-over-year, the market has seen six consecutive weeks of steady or improving decline.

Home prices remain high, but price reductions are on the rise

• Listing prices extended their streak of double-digit growth, ending the week of Oct. 24 up 12.2%. The price of the typical home for sale remains unchanged at $350,000 and $38,0000 above last year.
• The number of properties with price reductions is moving more toward seasonal norms, suggesting price gains may begin to ease in the coming weeks. The share of price reductions reached 5.5% for the week of Oct. 24, an increase from the early pandemic period in April where price reductions averaged 3.7%, and closer to the more normal 6.5% seen this time last year.
• With few options, homes continue to sell quickly. The average time on market is now a full two weeks faster than a year ago.

U.S. housing market shows signs of more balanced conditions

• Realtor.com^® tracks the overall strength of the housing market through its proprietary Housing Market Recovery Index, which compares real-time key indicators, including trends in number of searchers on realtor.com^®, median listing prices, the number of newly listed homes, and the time it takes to sell to January 2020, prior to the pandemic.
• The index reached a new high of 112.4 nationwide for the week ending Oct. 24, 12.4 points above the pre-COVID baseline and an increase of 1.5 points over last week.
• The index tells us that although demand for housing still outweighs supply, the U.S. housing market is shifting toward a more normal buyer/seller balance, which is good news for home shoppers.

Metro	Median Listing Price YoY	Total Listings YoY	Median Days on Market YoY
Akron, Ohio	9.1%	-54.1%	9 days faster
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.	13.1%	-41.5%	16 days faster
Albuquerque, N.M.	14.8%	-50.1%	10 days faster
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J.	21.3%	-57.1%	34 days faster
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.	9.9%	-44.6%	7 days faster
Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-S.C.	9.0%	-48.9%	32 days faster
Austin-Round Rock, Texas	18.0%	-48.8%	13 days faster
Bakersfield, Calif.	19.3%	-47.1%	14 days faster
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.	3.1%	-51.4%	10 days faster
Baton Rouge, La.	12.7%	-39.4%	6 days faster
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.	1.6%	-36.5%	19 days faster
Boise City, Idaho	19.4%	-70.7%	6 days faster
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.	12.7%	-27.8%	12 days faster
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.	0.0%	-26.0%	43 days faster
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y.	9.6%	-48.1%	6 days slower
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.	11.2%	-38.0%	16 days faster
Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.	13.1%	-43.4%	21 days faster
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.	9.2%	-48.9%	14 days faster
Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga.	12.3%	-52.7%	13 days faster
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.	9.0%	-33.2%	7 days faster
Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.	13.2%	-43.8%	12 days faster
Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio	5.3%	-48.1%	18 days faster
Colorado Springs, Colo.	7.0%	-53.9%	12 days faster
Columbia, S.C.	7.4%	-48.3%	21 days faster
Columbus, Ohio	12.7%	-47.4%	11 days faster
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	3.8%	-46.9%	10 days faster
Dayton, Ohio	15.9%	-45.4%	12 days faster
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.	5.3%	-42.7%	25 days faster
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.	5.7%	-43.7%	10 days faster
Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa	3.7%	-34.0%	10 days faster
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich	12.6%	-47.4%	8 days faster
Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.	15.1%	-45.5%	15 days faster
El Paso, Texas	16.9%	-46.7%	10 days faster
Fresno, Calif.	7.0%	-57.0%	20 days faster
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich	9.1%	-47.7%	2 days faster
Greensboro-High Point, N.C.	5.3%	-50.5%	17 days faster
Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, S.C.	3.9%	-40.5%	10 days faster
Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.	14.9%	-56.0%	5 days faster
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.	7.2%	-29.3%	24 days faster
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas	8.2%	-33.3%	11 days faster
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.	3.8%	-47.7%	13 days faster
Jackson, Miss.	15.6%	-46.5%	25 days faster
Jacksonville, Fla.	0.7%	-45.3%	16 days faster
Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.	10.1%	-48.6%	10 days faster
Knoxville, Tenn.	11.9%	-53.2%	18 days faster
Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.	7.7%	-30.2%	6 days faster
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.	7.8%	-5.1%	9 days faster
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.	17.5%	-50.2%	19 days faster
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.	16.4%	-20.3%	7 days faster
Louisville/Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.	0.1%	-50.5%	15 days faster
Madison, Wis.	7.3%	-44.2%	12 days faster
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas	17.9%	-44.1%	39 days faster
Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.	12.3%	-49.7%	14 days faster
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.	2.1%	-17.2%	No change
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.	2.4%	-37.1%	7 days faster
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.	1.5%	-29.8%	8 days faster
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tenn.	8.1%	-44.6%	6 days faster
New Haven-Milford, Conn.	7.6%	-23.3%	28 days faster
New Orleans-Metairie, La.	18.0%	-38.2%	7 days faster
New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.	17.0%	-2.3%	9 days faster
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.	4.2%	-36.2%	19 days faster
Oklahoma City, Okla.	6.3%	-41.6%	3 days faster
Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa	4.0%	-47.6%	12 days slower
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.	1.6%	-20.9%	5 days faster
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif.	13.4%	-47.5%	16 days faster
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.	6.7%	-41.7%	7 days faster
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.	16.7%	-41.2%	13 days faster
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.	8.8%	-41.7%	7 days faster
Pittsburgh, Pa.	25.3%	-39.0%	13 days faster
Portland-South Portland, Maine	8.1%	-46.5%	35 days faster
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.	9.7%	-44.7%	2 days faster
Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.	5.5%	-52.1%	10 days faster
Raleigh, N.C.	7.0%	-46.5%	14 days faster
Richmond, Va.	14.4%	-48.9%	7 days faster
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.	15.9%	-53.3%	11 days faster
Rochester, N.Y.	14.3%	-42.2%	15 days faster
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, Calif.	12.5%	-45.9%	15 days faster
Salt Lake City, Utah	11.2%	-49.2%	14 days faster
San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas	3.8%	-42.1%	8 days faster
San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.	11.2%	-24.1%	13 days faster
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.	11.5%	-0.2%	4 days faster
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.	9.2%	-14.9%	9 days faster
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, Pa.	18.8%	-53.1%	37 days faster
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.	5.1%	-33.9%	9 days faster
Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash.	7.2%	-49.0%	7 days faster
Springfield, Mass.	18.2%	-46.2%	17 days faster
St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.	9.8%	-38.8%	10 days faster
Stockton-Lodi, Calif.	7.0%	-62.0%	9 days faster
Syracuse, N.Y.	7.8%	-44.2%	4 days faster
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.	8.3%	-42.6%	14 days faster
Toledo, Ohio	9.4%	-42.2%	13 days faster
Tucson, Ariz.	6.9%	-42.4%	6 days faster
Tulsa, Okla.	8.0%	-40.3%	8 days faster
Urban Honolulu, Hawaii	-11.6%	27.0%	2 days slower
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.	6.9%	-45.9%	21 days faster
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va.	4.4%	-35.6%	8 days faster
Wichita, Kan.	10.6%	-37.3%	17 days faster
Winston-Salem, N.C.	7.4%	-47.6%	16 days faster
Worcester, Mass.-Conn.	10.3%	-51.5%	25 days faster
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.	11.3%	-53.4%	23 days faster

About realtor.com^®
Realtor.com^® makes buying, selling and living in homes easier and more rewarding for everyone. Realtor.com^® pioneered the world of digital real estate 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:
Janice McDill, janice.mcdill@move.com, 312.307.3134

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SOURCE realtor.com

FAQ

What does the latest realtor.com® Weekly Housing Report indicate about the housing market?

The report indicates a seasonal slowdown with improving newly listed homes and rising price reductions.

What is the current median home price according to realtor.com®?

The typical home price remains unchanged at $350,000.

How much did the Housing Market Recovery Index increase?

The index increased to a new high of 112.4, indicating a shift toward a more balanced market.

What trends were observed in buyer demand in the latest report?

The report noted a slight softening in buyer demand, suggesting potential buyer fatigue.

What is the year-over-year change in newly listed homes as of the week ending Oct. 24?

Newly listed homes are down 2% year-over-year.