Consistent with the entire 2020 year, the real estate market has certainly been atypical. For starters, the spring buying season was put on hold temporarily due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. This led to an incredible surge in buyer demand during the summer months. Typically as we head into the fall, we tend to see a slowing down in the real estate market. With this said, we are still seeing increased activity as we head into late October. Nationally, the median U.S. home for sale is still priced near the year’s peak and is selling almost two weeks faster than last year.
What’s the current state of the market?
Newly listed homes are down 6% for the week, according to the latest data from the National Realtors Association. In addition, total inventory is down 38% year over year. On average, homes are selling in 53 days. This is 13 days faster than last year. The U.S. median home price is still unseasonably high at $350,000, but a slowdown in price growth could be coming. Listing price growth has declined since the first week of October.
Summary
In closing, this year has certainly been like no other! The delay in the spring home buying season has had a domino effect on the housing market overall. Additionally, the historically low mortgage interest rates have certainly made it appealing for more buyers to enter the market. These low rates combined with a persistently tight housing inventory has made prices continue to rise.
As we move into the last two months of the year, we expect the market to stabilize as it typically does. Although the upcoming holiday season will have a completely different feel due to the social distancing orders, we still expect the real estate market to stabilize as normal. Most likely, more buyers will become distracted with the various holiday activities and festivities. In addition, more sellers will opt to not list their homes for sale during this time of the year. Of course, you can always expect the unexpected in 2020… It has certainly been that kind of year…
