Would-Be Home Sellers Slow to Return Despite Buyer Demand

This Zillow Weekly Market Report includes housing market data as of the week ending August 1

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Aug 07, 2020, 08:00 ET

SEATTLE, Aug. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Newly pending sales remain well above last year's level, according to Zillow's Weekly Market Reportⁱ. They fell for the second week running in week-over-week numbers, but other measures continue to show a fast-moving market that favors sellers, indicating the recent dip has more to do with a lack of inventory than waning interest from potential buyers. In the rental market, renters and landlords are entering an uncertain period after some added unemployment benefits expired at the end of July.

"Record-low mortgage rates are helping fuel a brisk pace of home sales later into this summer than normal, but buyers are having to compete over fewer and fewer listings," said Zillow economist Jeff Tucker. "The flow of new listings has recovered somewhat, but not fast enough to replace all the recent sales, so inventory continues to plumb new record lows. There's no single reason sellers have been slow to return, but some possibilities include reluctance to having strangers tour their home; concerns about difficulty getting their next home and an assumption that they couldn't sell for a high price right now."

Newly pending sales fell last week, but other indicators show a hot market

Newly pending sales fell 0.9% week over week, but remain 13.8% higher than the same period a year ago.
Homes that went under contract last week were typically on the market for 14 days. That's 11 days faster than last year.
The share of listings with a price cut held steady at 4.2%, which is 1.3 percentage points lower than a year ago. It's remained at that share for the past four weeks.

Sellers are still holding back

New for-sale listings fell 3.6% week over week and were 15.8% lower than the previous year as would-be sellers continue to largely stay out of the market. That is an improvement from past months -- new listings were down 16.5% annually in the week ending April 1, and down 24.7% in the week ending July 1.
Total listings are down 26.9% from a year ago, and down 0.9% from a week earlier.

List prices reach new yearly high

The median list price in the U.S. continues to grow, now at $343,680, 6.6% higher than last year.
During the week ending June 20, the median sale price was $266,805. That's 1.4% higher than a year prior.
The gap between list prices and sale prices does not necessarily mean homes are selling for well under their list price. The most-expensive homes often take longer to sell than more-affordable homes, and they help push the median list price up while they linger on the market.

Uncertainty ahead for the rental market as some aid expires

Rents were chugging along at a stable pace before the coronavirus pandemic, but heavy service-sector unemployment has hit renters more severely than homeowners, impacting rental demand and slowing price growth. Boosted unemployment benefits have expired with no replacement in place for now, and that may cause a ripple effect felt by renters, landlords and those who rely on the rental industry.
Rent prices in urban areas have slowed more than those in suburban areas, a possible signal that renters' preferred location is tilting toward the suburbs.

Metropolitan Area*	Newly Pending Sales - YoY	Newly Pending Sales - WoW	Median Days to Pending	New For-Sale Listings - YoY	New For-Sale Listings - WoW	Total For-Sale Listings - YoY	Median Sale Price**	Median Sale Price - YoY**
United States	13.8%	-0.9%	14	-15.8%	-3.6%	-26.9%	$266,805	1.4%
New York/Newark, NY/NJ	N/A	3.7%	28	-1.9%	-5.7%	-19.5%	$439,170	5.6%
Los Angeles, CA	0.6%	1.3%	13	6.2%	-2.0%	-27.3%	$669,700	1.7%
Chicago, IL	35.7%	-1.4%	14	-6.5%	-4.5%	-25.4%	$249,700	0.1%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	21.5%	1.4%	24	-15.0%	-7.4%	-24.4%	$286,117	1.3%
Philadelphia, PA	N/A	-1.5%	9	-12.7%	-9.4%	-36.6%	$260,934	0.5%
Houston, TX	N/A	0.2%	17	-30.3%	-9.9%	-22.1%	$253,100	0.9%
Washington, DC	N/A	-0.2%	7	-12.3%	-7.0%	-34.4%	$432,180	1.1%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL	N/A	-0.4%	31	-4.4%	-6.5%	-11.1%	$317,600	8.7%
Atlanta, GA	10.5%	-0.3%	16	-16.7%	-1.0%	-18.8%	$267,118	1.0%
Boston, MA	13.4%	-3.9%	9	-13.6%	3.2%	-24.2%	$497,800	3.3%
San Francisco, CA	N/A	0.4%	12	21.2%	-0.7%	-7.1%	$868,500	0.9%
Detroit, MI	N/A	-0.2%	8	-18.3%	-4.2%	-30.7%	$196,970	-3.1%
Riverside, CA	7.9%	-1.9%	11	-6.5%	-4.4%	-43.8%	$386,017	3.3%
Phoenix, AZ	N/A	0.8%	13	-6.5%	1.3%	-28.3%	$305,940	5.1%
Seattle, WA	N/A	0.2%	6	-4.6%	6.7%	-36.4%	$525,635	3.8%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN	N/A	1.3%	18	-16.0%	-2.6%	-24.1%	$295,990	3.9%
San Diego, CA	N/A	2.5%	8	-10.6%	-2.5%	-37.6%	$596,650	0.9%
St. Louis, MO	14.3%	-2.9%	7	-17.6%	-9.9%	-29.3%	$205,555	2.2%
Tampa, FL	N/A	N/A	11	-9.0%	-12.0%	-30.2%	$244,678	5.9%
Baltimore, MD	10.0%	-1.8%	10	-16.9%	-5.6%	-42.7%	$306,785	0.4%
Denver, CO	17.0%	-0.9%	7	-9.7%	-7.9%	-27.4%	$437,526	1.8%
Pittsburgh, PA	N/A	-2.1%	8	2.7%	5.4%	-24.6%	$184,200	-0.2%
Portland, OR	15.6%	0.3%	6	-18.8%	-8.4%	-30.1%	$417,899	2.0%
Charlotte, NC	-13.3%	-4.8%	7	-27.1%	-4.8%	-38.1%	$265,883	-1.8%
Sacramento, CA	15.1%	-2.5%	8	-10.4%	-0.4%	-35.8%	$439,900	3.6%
San Antonio, TX	N/A	2.2%	26	-31.2%	-2.0%	-20.6%	$246,063	3.3%
Orlando, FL	N/A	N/A	13	-16.2%	-8.4%	-15.6%	$268,021	2.4%
Cincinnati, OH	2.4%	-1.4%	4	-13.4%	10.1%	-36.4%	$206,340	7.3%
Cleveland, OH	20.8%	-0.2%	17	-14.8%	-2.2%	-37.0%	$169,140	2.5%
Kansas City, MO	N/A	-1.3%	5	-21.3%	-0.2%	-38.8%	$245,580	2.9%
Las Vegas, NV	N/A	-0.5%	19	-2.4%	1.7%	-26.8%	$303,869	2.2%
Columbus, OH	1.4%	-0.9%	4	-26.5%	-3.3%	-34.9%	$224,560	1.3%
Indianapolis, IN	N/A	0.1%	5	-25.4%	-11.2%	-37.0%	$213,800	8.5%
San Jose, CA	N/A	4.7%	14	4.6%	-5.3%	-24.6%	$1,127,500	0.2%
Austin, TX	N/A	1.5%	9	-16.3%	-1.2%	-26.3%	$339,700	2.4%
Virginia Beach, VA	N/A	5.3%	33	6.4%	2.2%	-35.6%	$267,600	2.3%
Nashville, TN	N/A	N/A	36	-22.5%	-0.5%	-12.8%	$306,690	1.7%
Providence, RI	N/A	-0.1%	12	-5.1%	-1.4%	-32.6%	$304,450	1.8%
Milwaukee, WI	N/A	N/A	27	-17.7%	-7.2%	-11.1%	$241,240	-0.1%
Jacksonville, FL	25.7%	0.0%	15	-18.7%	-14.3%	-28.4%	$256,491	1.4%
Memphis, TN	N/A	1.0%	6	-24.2%	-7.5%	-37.5%	$201,560	2.6%
Oklahoma City, OK	N/A	-1.5%	9	-20.4%	-7.8%	-28.2%	$200,176	3.0%
Louisville, KY	N/A	-3.2%	6	-18.4%	0.6%	-38.4%	$205,536	2.5%
Hartford, CT	35.4%	-4.0%	8	-11.5%	3.3%	-40.5%	$236,790	-0.9%
Richmond, VA	N/A	N/A	6	-26.9%	-10.1%	-31.4%	$275,450	3.4%
New Orleans, LA	29.4%	1.6%	18	-19.8%	-3.1%	-35.8%	$225,980	5.4%
Buffalo, NY	6.5%	-0.7%	10	-11.5%	-6.3%	-29.8%	$173,530	3.8%
Raleigh, NC	N/A	-4.7%	5	-25.5%	-14.6%	-31.8%	$299,580	0.1%
Birmingham, AL	31.2%	0.4%	9	-20.1%	-7.1%	-31.3%	$219,545	-0.6%
Salt Lake City, UT	N/A	N/A	7	-35.8%	-10.5%	-38.3%	$365,690	7.1%

*Table ordered by market size

** Sale price data as of the week ending June 20

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ⁱ The Zillow Weekly Market Reports are a weekly overview of the national and local real estate markets. The reports are compiled by Zillow Economic Research and data is aggregated from public sources and listing data on Zillow.com. New for-sale listings data reflect daily counts using a smoothed, seven-day trailing average. Total for-sale listings, newly pending sales, days to pending and median list price data reflect weekly counts using a smoothed, four-week trailing average. National newly pending sales trends are based upon aggregation of the 38 largest metro areas where historic pending listing data coverage is most statistically reliable, and excludes some metros due to upstream data coverage issues. For more information, visit www.zillow.com/research/.

SOURCE Zillow