Realtor.com® February Housing Report: Early Indications Show a Promising Spring Real Estate Season
Home sellers were more active this February, with 11.3% more homes newly listed on the market compared to last year
SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Realtor.com®'s February housing report, the Spring housing market is shaping up to be an active one for prospective homebuyers. In fact, there were 14.8% more homes actively for sale on a typical day in February compared to the same time in 2023, which marks the fourth consecutive month of annual inventory growth.
"The first couple of months of 2024 have proven to be positive for inventory levels, as the number of homes actively for sale was at its highest level since 2020," said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist of Realtor.com®. "While the country is still well below pre-pandemic levels, the South is leading the charge, moving faster than other parts of the country, largely driving the increase in availability of homes priced between $200,000 and $350,000, a price category that saw the most year-over-year growth nationally."
February 2024 Housing Metrics – National
Metric |
Change over Feb 2023 |
Change over Feb 2019 |
Median listing price |
+0.3% (to $415,500) |
+40.4 % |
Active listings |
+14.8 % |
-39.7 % |
New listings |
+11.3 % |
-17.2 % |
Median days on market |
- 4 days (to 61 days) |
-14 days |
Share of active listings with |
+1.4 percentage points (to 14.6%) |
-1.1 percentage points |
Affordable Home Inventory Grows
Homes in the $200,000 to $350,000 price range grew by 20.6% compared to last year, outpacing all other price categories. For home shoppers looking for affordable options, this may lead to particularly favorable home buying conditions. And, though the market is still a ways away from pre-pandemic levels, homebuyers may anticipate more options to choose from, compared to recent years, heading into the hot spring homebuying season especially in this category.
Southern Metros See the Most Inventory Growth
The inventory of homes actively for sale increased in 29 out of 50 of the largest metros compared to last year. Orlando (+38.5%), Miami (37.4%) and Tampa (36.3%) experienced the most inventory growth. While most metros are still seeing lower inventory levels when compared to pre-pandemic years, three metros actually saw higher levels of inventory in February compared to typical 2017 to 2019 levels. The top three were in the South, particularly in Texas: San Antonio (+26.6%), Austin (+10.8%), and Dallas (+2.2%).
Mortgage Rates Remain in Flux, but Sellers are Ready to Move
As mortgage rates continue to shift, home sales have been sensitive to the fluctuations. While rates declined abruptly in November and December they steadied around 6.6% in January and early February, before climbing higher following a hot inflation report, most recently hitting 6.94%. Additionally, the percentage of homes with price reductions increased from 13.2% in February of last year to 14.6% this year, marking the first time the share of price reductions had increased over the previous year since May of 2023. In fact, newly listed homes were 11.3% above last year's levels for the fourth month of increasing-listing activity after a 17-month streak of decline.
Additional details and full analysis of the market inventory levels, price fluctuations and stabilization, as well as days on market tallies can be found in the Realtor.com® February Monthly Housing Report.
February 2024 Housing Overview by Top 50 Largest Metros
Metro Area |
Median Listing Price |
Median Listing Price YoY |
Median Listing Price per Sq. Ft. YoY |
Active Listing Count YoY |
New Listing Count YoY |
Median Days on Market |
Median Days on Market Y-Y (Days) |
Price Reduced Share |
Price Reduced Share Y-Y (Percentage Points) |
$409,000 |
2.3 % |
4.1 % |
10.4 % |
15.7 % |
43 |
-8 |
15.4 % |
0.5 pp |
|
$542,000 |
2.1 % |
3.2 % |
8.1 % |
13.9 % |
60 |
-10 |
20.8 % |
-5.3 pp |
|
$330,000 |
1.9 % |
4.2 % |
2.4 % |
2.5 % |
44 |
-5 |
11.4 % |
0.1 pp |
|
$286,000 |
5.7 % |
5.6 % |
24.2 % |
14.9 % |
65 |
2 |
13.2 % |
-0.1 pp |
|
$854,000 |
6.9 % |
10.3 % |
-3.3 % |
5.9 % |
33 |
-5 |
7.7 % |
-2.1 pp |
|
$251,000 |
10.4 % |
13.6 % |
-4.5 % |
-0.4 % |
67 |
5 |
5.3 % |
-0.2 pp |
|
$400,000 |
0.7 % |
5.9 % |
4.7 % |
13.1 % |
45 |
-10 |
14.5 % |
0.6 pp |
|
$360,000 |
6.7 % |
6.8 % |
-13.4 % |
0.5 % |
40 |
-4 |
8.9 % |
-0.8 pp |
|
$337,000 |
-6.4 % |
4.3 % |
26.2 % |
10.3 % |
39 |
-10 |
10.9 % |
1.2 pp |
|
$212,000 |
6.5 % |
7.9 % |
-5.7 % |
1.2 % |
50 |
-3 |
10.8 % |
-0.9 pp |
|
$377,000 |
4.7 % |
5.4 % |
22.1 % |
5.2 % |
38 |
-2 |
15.8 % |
3.4 pp |
|
$435,000 |
0.0 % |
1.6 % |
25.4 % |
20.0 % |
48 |
-11 |
19.2 % |
2.8 pp |
|
$610,000 |
-3.6 % |
6.2 % |
30.0 % |
17.6 % |
35 |
-8 |
14.8 % |
1.3 pp |
|
$229,000 |
0.0 % |
2.3 % |
-4.8 % |
2.8 % |
46 |
-9 |
11.3 % |
-2.9 pp |
|
$400,000 |
0.9 % |
5.3 % |
-2.7 % |
-6.3 % |
41 |
7 |
5.8 % |
0.7 pp |
|
$360,000 |
0.4 % |
1.8 % |
16.2 % |
16.1 % |
48 |
-6 |
16.8 % |
1.1 pp |
|
$319,000 |
5.5 % |
7.2 % |
12.4 % |
2.8 % |
59 |
0 |
16.0 % |
0.9 pp |
|
$410,000 |
5.2 % |
5.6 % |
22.6 % |
21.6 % |
51 |
-13 |
20.8 % |
1.1 pp |
|
$421,000 |
-4.9 % |
-2.4 % |
1.7 % |
20.0 % |
73 |
-8 |
10.8 % |
2 pp |
|
$465,000 |
4.4 % |
5.6 % |
-39.3 % |
-2.9 % |
40 |
-25 |
13.4 % |
-8.6 pp |
|
$1,137,000 |
16.8 % |
9.4 % |
-4.2 % |
6.3 % |
40 |
-12 |
8.9 % |
-0.9 pp |
|
$312,000 |
4.1 % |
3.1 % |
12.3 % |
5.3 % |
45 |
1 |
14.7 % |
1.8 pp |
|
$325,000 |
0.4 % |
2.7 % |
35.5 % |
11.5 % |
68 |
1 |
18.2 % |
3 pp |
|
$550,000 |
-8.2 % |
-1.3 % |
37.4 % |
20.7 % |
62 |
-5 |
19.5 % |
5 pp |
|
$354,000 |
1.2 % |
4.4 % |
-2.0 % |
-19.1 % |
37 |
1 |
10.1 % |
0.3 pp |
|
$434,000 |
-0.1 % |
0.2 % |
16.4 % |
37.4 % |
37 |
-11 |
8.5 % |
0.9 pp |
|
$560,000 |
8.2 % |
7.4 % |
-2.8 % |
10.3 % |
38 |
0 |
17.3 % |
-1.8 pp |
|
$325,000 |
0.1 % |
0.1 % |
29.3 % |
-1.7 % |
83 |
14 |
16.3 % |
0.9 pp |
|
$750,000 |
10.2 % |
16.6 % |
-9.9 % |
-3.1 % |
69 |
-6 |
6.6 % |
-0.7 pp |
|
$323,000 |
-7.4 % |
-1.5 % |
19.8 % |
14.0 % |
55 |
3 |
18.1 % |
3.1 pp |
|
$435,000 |
0.0 % |
2.6 % |
38.5 % |
11.1 % |
64 |
0 |
19.7 % |
3 pp |
|
$340,000 |
5.4 % |
6.3 % |
-5.8 % |
1.0 % |
59 |
-4 |
11.0 % |
-0.4 pp |
|
$540,000 |
10.9 % |
4.6 % |
-4.4 % |
6.9 % |
45 |
-16 |
25.1 % |
-0.1 pp |
|
$232,000 |
16.2 % |
12.0 % |
6.1 % |
12.5 % |
75 |
-14 |
14.7 % |
1.9 pp |
|
$600,000 |
-1.2 % |
3.5 % |
21.1 % |
8.9 % |
55 |
2 |
19.1 % |
8.8 pp |
|
$500,000 |
0.4 % |
0.4 % |
-8.1 % |
2.3 % |
38 |
-7 |
6.8 % |
-1 pp |
|
$440,000 |
-2.2 % |
5.7 % |
-6.5 % |
18.0 % |
44 |
-22 |
12.1 % |
-1.5 pp |
|
$449,000 |
14.3 % |
7.7 % |
11.5 % |
8.2 % |
48 |
-3 |
8.9 % |
0.8 pp |
|
$595,000 |
6.3 % |
7.5 % |
-3.6 % |
7.0 % |
51 |
-15 |
12.9 % |
-1.1 pp |
|
$250,000 |
7.5 % |
8.3 % |
-5.6 % |
3.8 % |
24 |
-4 |
8.7 % |
1.3 pp |
|
$633,000 |
4.4 % |
4.6 % |
-7.2 % |
6.5 % |
39 |
-13 |
10.4 % |
-1.8 pp |
|
$335,000 |
-1.5 % |
-1.3 % |
26.6 % |
11.0 % |
68 |
1 |
21.2 % |
2.9 pp |
|
$997,000 |
6.9 % |
11.4 % |
5.8 % |
8.2 % |
33 |
-5 |
10.6 % |
0.5 pp |
|
$989,000 |
-1.3 % |
-0.6 % |
-2.0 % |
6.0 % |
29 |
-4 |
7.5 % |
-1 pp |
|
$1,367,000 |
-2.3 % |
-2.7 % |
-12.8 % |
16.6 % |
23 |
-7 |
5.0 % |
-3.4 pp |
|
$765,000 |
2.0 % |
4.1 % |
5.7 % |
41.7 % |
32 |
-11 |
7.3 % |
-3 pp |
|
$287,000 |
5.8 % |
4.8 % |
12.2 % |
14.1 % |
48 |
-16 |
10.5 % |
0.8 pp |
|
$416,000 |
3.9 % |
5.6 % |
36.3 % |
25.3 % |
57 |
-2 |
25.5 % |
4 pp |
|
$385,000 |
3.5 % |
6.1 % |
9.3 % |
7.2 % |
36 |
-2 |
15.1 % |
2.8 pp |
|
$599,000 |
2.5 % |
5.7 % |
-3.5 % |
2.3 % |
36 |
-4 |
8.5 % |
-0.5 pp |
Methodology
Realtor.com® housing data as of February 2024. 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 U.S. metropolitan areas as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). With the publication of the January 2023 data, metro-level data has reverted to the prior OMB metro area definitions, published March 2020, and historical data has been revised to be consistent over time. Realtor.com® plans to adopt the July 2023 vintage definitions after other data providers have, so geographies are consistent with commonly used 3rd party sources. For example, the American Community Survey plans to update with the release of its 2023 estimates.
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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