Realtor.com® Weekly Housing Report: Nearly 400,000 Fewer Homes Have Been Listed Since the Start of the Pandemic

Rhea-AI Summary

As of September 19, 2020, nearly 400,000 fewer homes were listed compared to last year, resulting in a 39% reduction in U.S. housing inventory. This scarcity has accelerated home prices, which rose by 11.1% year-over-year, with homes selling 12 days faster on average than in 2019. Realtor.com®'s Housing Market Recovery Index indicates a stronger market, now at 107.2 points, compared to pre-COVID levels. Despite these improvements, the number of new listings is down 15% from last year, leaving the market tight, especially with the ongoing challenges from the pandemic.

Positive

• Median listing prices grew by 11.1% year-over-year, indicating strong buyer demand.
• Homes are selling 12 days faster on average than last year, reflecting high buyer activity.
• Housing Market Recovery Index improved to 107.2 points, exceeding pre-COVID levels.

Negative

• Approximately 390,000 fewer homes were listed compared to the same period last year.
• The number of homes on the market is down 39%, indicating a significant inventory shortage.
• New listings decreased by 15% compared to last year, limiting buyer options.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic in March, nearly 400,000 fewer homes have been listed compared to last year, leaving a gaping hole in the U.S. housing inventory, according to realtor.com^®'s Weekly Housing Report for the week ending Sept. 19. As a result, home prices are accelerating at double last year's pace while homes sell 12 days faster than last year, on average.

"Sellers are more reluctant to list their home given the uncertainty over the economy and the pandemic environment. Buyers on the other hand, especially hungry first timers, remain largely unfazed by the challenges, and are motivated by low mortgage rates and the fear of missing out on the right home," said Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com^®. "The majority of sellers are also buyers, so even as new listings hit the market, another buyer is also added. Adding to the inventory issues, thousands of previously vacant homes, such as second homes and rentals, have been reoccupied by their owners during the pandemic, effectively taking them off the market."

Number of homes on the market remains woefully behind last year

• Since mid-March (the beginning of the COVID pandemic), a total of 2.91 million unique properties have been put on the market for sale. This is approximately 390,000 fewer homes than the 3.30 million listed during the same period last year.
• As of this week, the number of homes on the market is down 39% compared to last year. With the typical seasonal slowdown approaching, relief in terms of more available homes for sale is unlikely.
• The number of new listings hitting the market this week was down 15% compared to last year, a slight improvement over last week's decline of 17%. The slight uptick was likely a result of having a full work week compared to the short holiday week (Labor Day), as well as better containment of wildfires on the West Coast.

 Home prices continued to see record breaking growth

• Median listing prices continued to grow at last week's record breaking pace of 11.1% year-over-year. This is more than double January 2020's price acceleration and the 19th week in a row of price acceleration.

 Homes are selling even faster than last week

• Homes are selling in 53 days, which is 12 days faster on average than this time last year, and one day faster than last week. The rapid turnover is fueling home sales, and keeping the market from stalling. With buyer demand showing no signs of cooling, homes are expected to continue flying off the market, despite a depleted supply.

Housing market strengthens after last week's disasters 

• 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 searches 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.
• This week, the index was 107.2 points, 1.0 point stronger than last week and 7.2 points stronger than it was pre-COVID. The slight improvement over last week can be attributed to the containment of fire and hurricane damage, which had weakened levels of supply.

Metro	Median Listing Price YoY	Total Listings YoY	Median Days on Market YoY
Akron, Ohio	6.5%	-54.4%	5 days faster
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.	16.2%	-43.1%	12 days faster
Albuquerque, N.M.	18.5%	-51.4%	6 days faster
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J.	26.1%	-59.0%	37 days faster
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.	9.9%	-46.6%	9 days faster
Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-S.C.	6.4%	-48.5%	25 days faster
Austin-Round Rock, Texas	16.9%	-49.3%	13 days faster
Bakersfield, Calif.	17.3%	-46.7%	18 days faster
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.	3.3%	-52.8%	18 days faster
Baton Rouge, La.	14.9%	-35.8%	1 days slower
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.	7.5%	-39.3%	12 days faster
Boise City, Idaho	12.3%	-67.4%	3 days faster
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.	15.4%	-34.6%	17 days faster
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.	1.6%	-23.9%	41 days faster
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y.	15.0%	-43.1%	No change
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.	13.8%	-32.6%	20 days faster
Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.	15.5%	-42.7%	22 days faster
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.	8.6%	-48.9%	14 days faster
Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga.	12.9%	-51.1%	12 days faster
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.	9.2%	-35.3%	7 days faster
Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.	18.2%	-48.3%	9 days faster
Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio	8.2%	-51.2%	10 days faster
Colorado Springs, Colo.	4.5%	-52.0%	15 days faster
Columbia, S.C.	8.7%	-47.9%	21 days faster
Columbus, Ohio	7.1%	-48.4%	13 days faster
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	5.0%	-45.3%	10 days faster
Dayton, Ohio	24.7%	-47.0%	9 days faster
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.	4.3%	-43.3%	17 days faster
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.	4.9%	-40.9%	7 days faster
Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa	2.2%	-36.5%	8 days faster
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich	12.9%	-46.2%	7 days faster
Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.	11.7%	-44.9%	8 days faster
El Paso, Texas	11.1%	-45.5%	20 days faster
Fresno, Calif.	6.1%	-57.3%	20 days faster
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich	7.1%	-48.5%	No change
Greensboro-High Point, N.C.	13.5%	-49.9%	9 days faster
Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, S.C.	6.8%	-43.1%	5 days faster
Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.	10.2%	-51.4%	20 days faster
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.	7.5%	-31.1%	23 days faster
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas	7.2%	-33.0%	7 days faster
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.	8.0%	-54.2%	13 days faster
Jackson, Miss.	22.0%	-45.3%	14 days faster
Jacksonville, Fla.	4.6%	-44.9%	11 days faster
Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.	13.4%	-51.8%	3 days faster
Knoxville, Tenn.	7.6%	-56.6%	12 days faster
Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.	8.0%	-30.8%	7 days faster
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.	7.8%	-6.4%	9 days faster
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.	18.3%	-49.0%	16 days faster
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.	17.1%	-29.0%	1 day faster
Louisville/Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.	2.6%	-49.8%	9 days faster
Madison, Wis.	5.7%	-45.5%	5 days faster
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas	13.8%	-47.7%	19 days faster
Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.	11.1%	-53.3%	12 days faster
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.	2.5%	-14.9%	5 days faster
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.	8.3%	-43.8%	3 days faster
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.	3.0%	-33.0%	7 days faster
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tenn.	8.1%	-42.3%	4 days faster
New Haven-Milford, Conn.	5.7%	-24.3%	28 days faster
New Orleans-Metairie, La.	12.5%	-39.6%	8 days faster
New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.	12.5%	-9.1%	10 days faster
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.	5.4%	-32.1%	21 days faster
Oklahoma City, Okla.	6.1%	-39.6%	3 days faster
Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa	8.4%	-44.8%	9 days slower
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.	1.5%	-20.4%	7 days faster
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif.	9.1%	-45.7%	36 days faster
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.	7.0%	-42.6%	7 days faster
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.	15.4%	-43.6%	20 days faster
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.	7.8%	-41.5%	7 days faster
Pittsburgh, Pa.	25.0%	-35.7%	10 days faster
Portland-South Portland, Maine	11.9%	-48.8%	30 days faster
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.	8.3%	-45.5%	5 days faster
Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.	9.1%	-54.0%	12 days faster
Raleigh, N.C.	6.0%	-46.3%	8 days faster
Richmond, Va.	11.6%	-46.7%	8 days faster
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.	14.4%	-57.1%	10 days faster
Rochester, N.Y.	6.3%	-42.1%	16 days faster
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, Calif.	9.1%	-51.9%	10 days faster
Salt Lake City, Utah	13.9%	-56.2%	15 days faster
San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas	6.6%	-43.8%	14 days faster
San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.	6.9%	-42.4%	8 days faster
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.	9.3%	-13.9%	5 days slower
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.	5.6%	-27.1%	3 days faster
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, Pa.	16.1%	-53.3%	30 days faster
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.	5.2%	-26.4%	7 days faster
Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash.	15.0%	-48.1%	4 days faster
Springfield, Mass.	22.5%	-48.3%	15 days faster
St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.	11.2%	-40.1%	6 days faster
Stockton-Lodi, Calif.	9.4%	-62.1%	3 days faster
Syracuse, N.Y.	2.8%	-43.5%	2 days slower
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.	7.2%	-45.1%	10 days faster
Toledo, Ohio	9.3%	-42.3%	12 days faster
Tucson, Ariz.	10.4%	-45.2%	6 days faster
Tulsa, Okla.	14.3%	-43.6%	8 days faster
Urban Honolulu, Hawaii	-12.2%	27.4%	3 days slower
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.	10.0%	-45.6%	24 days faster
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va.	9.2%	-42.0%	16 days faster
Wichita, Kan.	9.9%	-49.1%	13 days faster
Winston-Salem, N.C.	8.7%	-49.4%	17 days faster
Worcester, Mass.-Conn.	11.8%	-55.0%	26 days faster
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.	9.4%	-57.8%	12 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 Contacts: 
Cody Horvat - cody.horvat@move.com

 

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SOURCE realtor.com

FAQ

How many homes were listed in the U.S. as of September 19, 2020?

As of September 19, 2020, approximately 2.91 million unique properties were put on the market.

What is the year-over-year change in median listing prices?

Median listing prices increased by 11.1% year-over-year.

How much faster are homes selling compared to last year?

Homes are selling 12 days faster on average than last year.

What does the Housing Market Recovery Index indicate?

The Housing Market Recovery Index currently stands at 107.2 points, indicating a stronger market than pre-COVID.