Sellers still hold the reins of the U.S. housing market as prices reach record year-over-year gains and low inventory further erodes, according to the Zillow Weekly Market Report. However, tapering pending sales and minimal recent growth in list prices point to an overdue seasonal market slowdown that may finally be coming.
Pending sales slow as short time-on-market stays steady
Newly pending listings are up a sizable 22.2% year over year, but fell 4.6% month over month and 1.5% week over week. Though the pandemic pushed the buying season back and demand is still high, buyers’ scramble for houses seems to be calming somewhat.
As has been the case throughout much of August and September, houses typically stayed on the market for 13 days across the U.S. Listings’ median time on the market has grown shorter compared to last year since mid-May, and they now typically go pending 15 days sooner than during the same week in 2019.
Inventory continues downward spiral that began in late May
- The long contraction in for-sale inventory continued for the 18th straight week, now standing at 35% below 2019 levels. This represents the largest year-over-year drop in total inventory in ZIllow’s recently launched weekly data series going back through 2019, and is consistent with a larger drop than any recorded in Zillow’s monthly inventory data back to 2013. Inventory is down 3.2% month over month.
- New for-sale listings are down 9.5% year over year and down 6.9% since the previous month. In late August, a brief surge of new listings threatened to reach parity with 2019 levels, but that pace dropped off again in September, contributing to the ever-deepening drought of overall active listings.
Prices tower over 2019 as sellers’ market endures
- Median sale price for the week of Aug. 15 rose 9.3% year over year to $284,625, which is the highest yearly jump in price since at least the start of 2019. Median sale price was up 1.2% month over month, showing less aggressive price growth than the previous eight weeks.
- Median list price rose to $345,000, 10.4% over last year’s figures and again the highest year-over-year increase in Zillow weekly data stretching through last year. However, the only slight monthly uptick of 0.1% could indicate that an overdue seasonal cooling of the market may finally be setting in.
Consumer confidence rises and unemployment claims fall
- After two consecutive months of decline, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index jumped 15.5 points from August to September, the strongest month-over-month gain since April 2003. Overall confidence is still 23% below February levels.
- New unemployment claims fell by 36,000 last week but remained between 800,000 and 900,000 for the fifth straight week. Those collecting unemployment insurance through regular state programs fell by 980,000 to 11.8 million, which is the lowest level seen since March, but still far above the 1.7 million on unemployment at this time last year.
|
Metropolitan |
Newly |
Newly |
Median |
Total |
New |
New |
Median |
Median |
|
United States |
22.2% |
-1.5% |
13 |
-35.0% |
-9.5% |
-2.4% |
$284,625 |
9.3% |
|
New York/Newark, NY/NJ |
52.5% |
-4.5% |
31 |
-20.4% |
0.2% |
-1.8% |
$448,750 |
4.2% |
|
Los Angeles, CA |
10.7% |
-0.4% |
12 |
-24.7% |
4.3% |
-5.0% |
$719,625 |
10.1% |
|
Chicago, IL |
36.9% |
-3.1% |
12 |
-28.6% |
-0.8% |
-8.6% |
$267,750 |
8.7% |
|
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX |
27.1% |
-4.3% |
23 |
-32.7% |
-24.4% |
-0.7% |
$303,250 |
9.5% |
|
Philadelphia, PA |
36.8% |
2.4% |
8 |
-37.6% |
-1.0% |
-2.5% |
$279,850 |
5.3% |
|
Houston, TX |
29.3% |
-1.5% |
16 |
-29.5% |
-26.0% |
-13.0% |
$269,344 |
8.8% |
|
Washington, DC |
19.5% |
2.1% |
7 |
-34.8% |
-7.6% |
-11.9% |
$451,525 |
7.8% |
|
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL |
31.7% |
-1.7% |
26 |
-13.5% |
6.1% |
17.9% |
$325,660 |
10.5% |
|
Atlanta, GA |
15.6% |
-2.8% |
14 |
-31.6% |
-21.4% |
-11.1% |
$285,174 |
11.2% |
|
Boston, MA |
3.9% |
-0.2% |
8 |
-31.4% |
-16.7% |
-9.7% |
$523,750 |
9.7% |
|
San Francisco, CA |
31.6% |
0.5% |
11 |
-6.4% |
21.8% |
-7.0% |
$916,750 |
14.6% |
|
Detroit, MI |
39.8% |
-3.6% |
9 |
-38.8% |
-19.0% |
-10.6% |
$227,025 |
14.5% |
|
Riverside, CA |
11.3% |
-1.9% |
9 |
-48.0% |
-0.8% |
-2.1% |
$411,000 |
10.1% |
|
Phoenix, AZ |
24.1% |
2.6% |
11 |
-20.9% |
3.9% |
-7.4% |
$323,438 |
12.6% |
|
Seattle, WA |
20.6% |
0.4% |
6 |
-31.9% |
-6.9% |
-2.2% |
$529,686 |
9.4% |
|
Minneapolis- St. Paul, MN |
35.8% |
-2.1% |
16 |
-27.4% |
11.1% |
-0.6% |
$313,250 |
9.9% |
|
San Diego, CA |
19.9% |
0.1% |
9 |
-37.5% |
-3.8% |
-16.3% |
$638,125 |
9.8% |
|
St. Louis, MO |
27.1% |
8.5% |
6 |
-38.8% |
-8.8% |
0.9% |
$215,488 |
9.0% |
|
Tampa, FL |
25.9% |
-2.7% |
7 |
-35.5% |
-10.6% |
4.4% |
$258,412 |
10.0% |
|
Baltimore, MD |
54.6% |
-0.8% |
12 |
-44.4% |
0.4% |
-6.9% |
$318,390 |
2.1% |
|
Denver, CO |
19.6% |
-4.3% |
6 |
-35.2% |
-0.6% |
-16.4% |
$461,875 |
6.5% |
|
Pittsburgh, PA |
0.7% |
-0.8% |
10 |
-27.8% |
-8.9% |
5.5% |
$199,988 |
8.7% |
|
Portland, OR |
19.7% |
-1.6% |
7 |
-38.0% |
-6.1% |
15.3% |
$442,750 |
8.8% |
|
Charlotte, NC |
32.3% |
-3.3% |
6 |
-44.3% |
-19.1% |
-5.2% |
$286,562 |
9.2% |
|
Sacramento, CA |
9.8% |
-0.7% |
7 |
-44.3% |
-4.6% |
-10.6% |
$460,438 |
9.2% |
|
San Antonio, TX |
80.1% |
2.3% |
26 |
-26.0% |
-35.2% |
-11.6% |
$252,750 |
7.6% |
|
Orlando, FL |
14.3% |
-1.6% |
12 |
-17.5% |
-8.9% |
-12.7% |
$286,375 |
9.8% |
|
Cincinnati, OH |
19.3% |
-1.1% |
4 |
-39.1% |
-13.1% |
-19.7% |
$215,738 |
16.4% |
|
Cleveland, OH |
20.0% |
1.3% |
17 |
-40.7% |
7.7% |
9.2% |
$173,100 |
6.7% |
|
Kansas City, MO |
14.9% |
-0.1% |
5 |
-44.0% |
-5.9% |
-7.3% |
$256,975 |
11.1% |
|
Las Vegas, NV |
-12.1% |
-1.6% |
15 |
-22.4% |
-6.0% |
-8.2% |
$306,625 |
0.0% |
|
Columbus, OH |
25.3% |
-4.6% |
4 |
-40.2% |
-20.4% |
-6.9% |
$238,750 |
17.5% |
|
Indianapolis, IN |
-4.9% |
-3.2% |
5 |
-40.7% |
5.0% |
-9.1% |
$221,875 |
10.7% |
|
San Jose, CA |
48.3% |
-0.7% |
15 |
-19.4% |
61.4% |
-6.6% |
$1,129,875 |
9.8% |
|
Austin, TX |
35.4% |
-3.5% |
8 |
-37.2% |
-22.1% |
-21.6% |
$351,617 |
9.7% |
|
Virginia Beach, VA |
22.9% |
-0.6% |
30 |
-39.8% |
3.0% |
-6.7% |
$274,500 |
6.3% |
|
Nashville, TN |
5.3% |
2.5% |
34 |
-25.6% |
-21.7% |
5.2% |
$317,750 |
5.9% |
|
Providence, RI |
49.3% |
-0.6% |
13 |
-38.8% |
-3.3% |
3.2% |
$324,675 |
8.8% |
|
Milwaukee, WI |
10.0% |
-2.5% |
30 |
-5.6% |
-0.8% |
-8.2% |
$206,875 |
4.7% |
|
Jacksonville, FL |
20.2% |
-2.1% |
13 |
-38.4% |
-30.5% |
-6.1% |
$267,000 |
1.9% |
|
Memphis, TN |
14.7% |
-2.7% |
7 |
-46.3% |
-6.9% |
10.9% |
$204,875 |
5.2% |
|
Oklahoma City, OK |
43.3% |
-1.6% |
9 |
-35.5% |
-14.6% |
-18.2% |
$206,738 |
13.0% |
|
Louisville, KY |
5.3% |
2.5% |
6 |
-43.9% |
-6.4% |
0.1% |
$216,875 |
8.9% |
|
Hartford, CT |
49.3% |
-0.6% |
9 |
-40.8% |
2.0% |
-11.7% |
$263,125 |
11.1% |
|
Richmond, VA |
6 |
-40.4% |
-11.0% |
-4.2% |
$282,938 |
6.1% |
||
|
New Orleans, LA |
10.0% |
-2.5% |
18 |
-43.9% |
-19.7% |
-6.8% |
$231,188 |
5.9% |
|
Buffalo, NY |
20.2% |
-2.1% |
10 |
-37.5% |
-11.9% |
1.4% |
$189,375 |
8.3% |
|
Raleigh, NC |
14.7% |
-2.7% |
5 |
-42.6% |
-16.3% |
-4.9% |
$313,438 |
7.0% |
|
Birmingham, AL |
43.3% |
-1.6% |
7 |
-35.1% |
7.8% |
-1.5% |
$220,412 |
6.2% |
|
Salt Lake City, UT |
6 |
-46.5% |
-40.3% |
-24.0% |
$379,646 |
10.3% |
*Table ordered by market size
**Sale price data as of the week ending Sept. 26
