According to a recent MReport, housing activity has increased and newly-pending sales grew 13.6% last week and 28.5% monthly. Zillow reported that while new listings increased to 16.9%, they are still roughly 19% lower than they were a year ago. The total for-sale inventory fell 2.6% in the first week of June and is down 27% annually. Additionally, Zillow found that the median list price for a home in the United States is $333,372, which is 4.2% higher than the median list price at this time last year. The data Zillow found also revealed that Cincinnati, OH had the largest annual increase of list prices, rising 19.2%. Chicago and Baltimore had the smallest increase of 1.9%. Experts forecast project home prices to fall 1.8% from April to October 2020, with a slow recovery during 2021. Pending sales reached its lowest point in April, roughly 50% below February levels. The pending sales are forecasted to fully recover within the next year.
WHAT ELSE DID THEY FIND?
According to CoreLogic, while home prices rose annually 5.4% in April, prices are expected to fall 1.3% by April of next year. If this prediction is accurate, it would be the first decline in home prices in more than nine years. The Housing Price Index has increased annually every month since February 2012. The HPI has increased 68.2% since March of 2011. As of April this year, the HPI was 13% higher than its pre-crisis peak in April 2006. First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi said as “pent-up demand” from the delayed spring-buying season, potential homebuyers have limited inventory to choose from. Additionally, she said “Lack of supply relative to demand is a sure-fire recipe for increasing house price appreciation”. She also added that more homeowners were reluctant to list their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore available homes dwindled further. CoreLogic states homes in the lowest-price tier rose 7.7% in April 2020, 6.7% for the low-to-middle-price tier, 5.9% for the middle-to moderate-price tier, and 4.8% for the high-price tier.
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