The housing market, sunk in low inventory, prepared for a competitive winter

admin November 10, 2021

5 1 minute read

The housing market, sunk in low inventory, prepared for a competitive winter

The autumn has historically been a slow period for the US housing market, but it still looks like the pandemic housing market is starting.

In each month from March to October 2021, the typical American home spent fewer days on the market than in the fastest-selling month of 2016-2020, according to a new Realtor.com report.

In October 2021, an average home spent 45 days on the market, slightly longer than last month’s average of 43 days. However, homes are still selling faster than in any October in recent history, including 2020 (-8 days) and 2019 (-21 days).

The homes are also more expensive. The median listing price last month reached $ 380,000, 9% higher than in October 2020 and 22% higher than in October 201[ads1]9.

The pandemic market has been defined by a smaller pool of homes for sale. With 636,606 active listings in October, the stock fell 22% from October last year and 52% from October 2019.

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There were 5,975 more homes under contract than actively built homes, and took a step back from improvements in fixtures since June.

“The fact that we still have relatively low inventory levels heading into this latter part of the year suggests that the market is still very competitive and is likely to remain so,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “Buyers are facing some real market challenges,” she said, noting higher prices, quick sales and higher mortgage rates.

The 50 largest US markets saw a slight increase in annual listing price growth in October, rising by an average of 5% against last month’s rate of 4%.

At least five subways saw an annual listing price increase of 18%, including Austin (+35.2%), Las Vegas (+27.2%), Tampa (21.8%), Orlando (+20.0%) and Denver ( +18.3%).

There are some indications that listing price inflation may slow down nationally.

While 5% fewer homes underwent a price reduction in October compared with 2019, it was up by 1% from October last year.