Spring Housing Market Grows Even Tighter
Key Statistics:
- The median age of inventory was 59 days, down 5 percent from last year and down 9 percent from last month as the spring season begins to peak in more markets.
- The median listing price for April reached $290,000, an 8 percent increase year-over-year and a 3 percent increase month-over-month.
- Listing inventory in April continued to decrease on a yearly basis but a slower pace, with total listings down 6 percent year-over-year and up 5% over March.
The end of April signals peak home-buying season in many markets around the country, and our data says that’s particularly true this year, in what is now the hottest spring housing market on record.
Our early look at April tells us temperatures are up in most markets, with the pace of sales (and prices) still carrying enough inertia from last year to keep the inventory landscape largely unchanged. On the bright side, more new listings are entering the market than this time last year, and that should be just enough to power home sales growth this spring. However, the pace of sales continues to break records, with listings moving faster than ever across all price tiers, proving that the path to inventory recovery a slow and rocky one.
Nationally, this means the dynamics of increased competition and buyer frustration are unlikely to change this spring. In fact, the direction of the trend is pointing to a growing mismatch between the pool of prospect buyers and existing inventory.
However, local dynamics show the heat is being spread out more broadly than before, lighting the spark in more areas but stopping the fire in others. Looking at the 300 largest metros this month, fewer markets are seeing inventory decline on a yearly basis this spring (Figure A). Similarly, fewer markets are seeing double digit price growth compared to this time last year (Figure B). Moreover, the number of markets experiencing the deadly combination of inventory drops and double-digit price growth has also dropped significantly compared to last April, 62 vs 115 respectively. On the flip side, 180 markets are still seeing prices rise and the pace of sales accelerate on a yearly basis, which means the damage has been done and the majority of markets are unlikely to see improvements any time soon. Buyers will be forced to adapt.
Figure A
Figure B
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