Realtor.com® October Housing Report: Homes Sell Even Faster While Buyers Pay Summer Prices

Improvement in newly listed homes could indicate relief ahead for weary buyers

- Homes sold 13 days faster than last year, one day faster than September

- Home prices remain fixed at summer's peak of $350,000

- Total number of homes on the market declined, but the drop in new listings slowed nationally and new listings even increased in some markets

News provided by

realtor.com

Nov 05, 2020, 06:00 ET

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. housing market continued to near record levels in October, thwarting the usual fall slowdown. For the first time since 2011*, homes sold faster** in October than September and prices remained at their summer peak of $350,000, according to realtor.com^®'s Monthly Housing Trends Report released today. However, October also saw an improvement in declines of newly listed homes which could signal some relief on the horizon for weary buyers.

"In the fall, we normally see homes sell more slowly and prices pull back from peak levels. But this October, we saw a drop in the time it takes to sell a home even while home prices remain at their summer peak" said Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com^®. "Drawn in by low mortgage rates and the hope of more space, buyers have stayed in the housing market this fall, keeping prices high and pushing time on market to unseasonable lows. Although we saw growth in newly listed properties in the Northeast and West this month, we'll need a consistent wave of fresh homes hitting the market in order to better match persistent buyer demand."

Home sales speed up in October compared to September

Homes sold in 53 days in October, 13 days faster than last year and one day faster than September.
This is the first time the pace of sales has sped up from September to October since 2011, signaling buyers continued to face tough competition in this anything but normal year.
Within the nation's 50 largest metros, homes sold even faster, spending only 45 days on market. Buffalo, N.Y. was the only metro to have homes sell slower than last year with an additional seven days on market. The metros where homes sold the fastest compared to last year included:

Hartford, Conn. (-23 days);
Virginia Beach, Va. (-22 days); and
San Diego (-20 days).

Home prices remain fixed near summer's peak and accelerate over September

The median listing price grew 12.2% year-over-year, to $350,000 in October. This is an acceleration from September when prices grew by 11.1%.
In a normal year, prices would have dropped 1-4% from summer's price peak by October.
While prices increased nationwide, the largest gains were seen in the Northeast (+11.4%), followed by the West (+10.1%), Midwest (+9%) and South (+7.3%).
Within the nation's 50 largest metros, prices increased by 8.9%, which is a slight slow down from September when prices grew 9.3% and could signal a shift in the market balance that may lead to further slowdowns in the pace of price growth.
The metros which had the largest gains in prices included:

Los Angeles (+16.9%),
Philadelphia (+16.7%), and
Cincinnati (16.3%).

A severe lack of homes for sale continued despite improvement in newly listed homes

Nationally, the number of homes for sale was down 38.3%, amounting to roughly half a million fewer homes for sale than last year.
Newly listed homes were down 7.7% compared to last year, but this is substantial improvement from September when new listings were down 13.8%. Western (+7.2%) and Northeastern markets (+4.1%) are seeing the strongest improvements with more new listings hitting the market, while the Midwest (-9.5%) and South (-13.8%) were still down compared to last year.
Within the nation's 50 largest metros, the number of homes for sale declined 38.6%. The metros with the largest declines in new listings compared to last year included:

Nashville, Tenn. (-27.5%);
Charlotte, N.C. (-22.9%); and
Richmond, VA. (-21.8%).

The metros which saw the most new listings hit the market included:

San Jose, Calif. (+30.6%);
New York (+28.2%); and
San Francisco (+25.9%).

Metros With the Largest Increase in Newly Listed Homes

Metro	New Listing Count YoY	Median Listing Price YoY	Median Listing Price	Median Days on Market Y- Y	Median Days on Market	Active Listing Count YoY
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.	30.6%	8.1%	$1,199,100	-8	34	-18.5%
New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.	28.2%	15.1%	$639,100	-9	58	-6.1%
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.	25.9%	11.6%	$1,049,100	0	35	-4.2%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.	17.2%	16.9%	$995,100	-6	49	-22.9%
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.	15.9%	7.1%	$300,000	-23	41	-31.3%
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.	15.1%	13.9%	$669,100	-15	33	-29.4%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.	12.5%	6.4%	$625,000	-8	35	-31.6%
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, Calif.	11.3%	12.3%	$549,100	-15	35	-48.4%
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.	9.9%	2.4%	$348,000	-7	37	-30.1%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.- Md.-W. Va.	5.4%	4.6%	$502,100	-7	36	-36.7%
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.	0.4%	7.9%	$345,300	-8	41	-7.8%
San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.	-0.6%	11.2%	$795,100	-20	24	-25.4%
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.	-1.2%	16.7%	$349,100	-13	48	-41.8%
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.	-2.0%	5.0%	$520,000	-7	36	-44.2%
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.	-2.4%	1.7%	$260,000	-16	51	-36.1%
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.	-2.7%	9.1%	$510,100	-2	49	-44.0%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.	-3.8%	14.6%	$470,100	-12	41	-53.6%
Rochester, N.Y.	-3.9%	12.9%	$228,700	-13	31	-43.3%
St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.	-4.4%	10.3%	$248,000	-10	56	-38.4%
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.- N.C.	-4.9%	6.9%	$320,600	-22	39	-46.7%
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.	-7.3%	4.6%	$340,000	-10	43	-51.4%
Raleigh, N.C.	-7.3%	6.8%	$390,000	-11	49	-45.4%
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.	-7.6%	3.8%	$300,000	-6	42	-39.2%
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas	-7.6%	7.8%	$334,100	-11	52	-32.8%
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.	-7.9%	9.5%	$345,000	-7	43	-32.6%
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y.	-8.2%	7.5%	$215,000	7	52	-46.7%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.	-8.2%	10.0%	$308,000	-12	48	-43.0%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.	-8.8%	2.5%	$410,100	-1	93	-15.6%
Austin-Round Rock, Texas	-9.0%	15.9%	$413,200	-13	46	-47.7%
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.	-9.2%	1.6%	$325,000	-4	59	-20.9%
Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio	-9.3%	3.2%	$200,000	-16	47	-48.2%
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.	-9.3%	7.7%	$415,600	-7	36	-41.8%
Pittsburgh, Pa.	-9.4%	N/A	$245,100	-10	57	-36.8%
Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.	-10.3%	6.1%	$400,000	-10	42	-52.5%
Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.	-11.1%	10.1%	$330,100	-10	47	-48.7%
New Orleans-Metairie, La.	-12.8%	15.7%	$329,100	-8	64	-39.1%
Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.	-13.7%	16.3%	$310,000	-12	39	-44.9%
Oklahoma City, Okla.	-15.4%	6.6%	$270,000	-5	48	-40.5%
San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas	-16.0%	3.6%	$300,000	-9	53	-40.8%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	-16.1%	4.1%	$356,000	-10	47	-46.8%
Louisville/Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.	-17.4%	2.2%	$258,100	-12	35	-50.2%
Columbus, Ohio	-17.5%	9.0%	$305,100	-10	35	-47.8%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.	-18.8%	10.6%	$355,100	-8	46	-45.5%
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.	-19.8%	5.7%	$275,000	-13	43	-47.8%
Jacksonville, Fla.	-20.4%	2.6%	$318,100	-15	55	-45.5%
Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.	-21.7%	14.0%	$263,800	-12	45	-49.3%
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich	-21.7%	12.4%	$269,100	-8	38	-47.4%
Richmond, Va.	-21.8%	11.7%	$357,000	-8	45	-48.2%
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.	-22.9%	9.0%	$365,400	-14	43	-48.7%
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, Tenn.	-27.5%	8.1%	$400,000	-5	32	-43.6%

*Based on realtor.com^® records back to 2016 and NAR data before 2016.
**Based on the realtor.com^® time on market calculation.
***Some data for Pittsburgh has been excluded due to data quality.

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