October 03 2021
U.S. inventory declines continued to shrink (-22.2% year-over-year) despite a dip in new listings in September
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 30, 2021 -- New housing data shows inventory hit a 2021 high in September, giving buyers more choices than they have had all year, according to the Realtor.com® Monthly Housing Report released today. Nearly one-third of the 50 largest metros continued to see increases in newly-listed homes compared to last year and in Austin, Texas; Portland, Ore.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Washington, D.C., new listings were up more than 10% year-over-year.
"Put simply, this September buyers had more options than they've had all year and while that's typical of early fall, that's not what happened in 2020. Still, it's important to remember that while buyers may have an easier time this fall than they did in the spring, the market remains more competitive than it has been historically at this time of year," said Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. "There are fewer homes for sale than last year and less than half as many as two years ago; homes are also selling a lot faster. With new listings in September dipping below last year for the first time in 5 months, next month's data will yield important clues about whether this setback is going to be temporary or a new trend."
The U.S. supply of for-sale homes reached a new 2021 high in September, as buyers continued to see steady improvement in the number of active listings compared to earlier this year, the typical seasonal pattern that was notably missing in 2020. The pace at which inventory has been closing-in on the yearly gap slipped in September.
September data also offered good news for sellers as listing prices remained historically-high nationwide. However, September pricing trends reflected more normal seasonal cooling compared to fall 2020, offering buyers some lower cost options, after the double-digit growth seen from August 2020 through July 2021.
In September, homes sat on the market for slightly longer compared to the feverish pace seen over the summer, giving buyers relatively more time to make decisions. Time on market remains faster than in 2019-2020, but is following more typical seasonality compared to 2020 when homes sold fastest during the Fall.
Methodology
Housing data as of September 2021. Listings include the active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos/townhomes for the given level of geography on Realtor.com®; new construction is excluded unless listed via the MLS. In this analysis, entry-level homes are defined as 750-1,750 square-foot single family homes.
In this release, price adjustments are defined as home listings that had their price reduced in September 2021. Listings that had their prices increased during the month are excluded. In September, the count of listing price reductions was more than 8 times higher than the count of listing price increases.
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