Home sales in September were up 3.2 percent from a year ago. Year-to-date homes sales were up 4 percent compared the same period last year.
Strong buyer demand this fall has kept the market moving at a fast pace. The typical home sold in 46 days, four days faster than last year. About one in five homes sold in two weeks or less last month compared to one in six in 2015. In Denver, Seattle and Tacoma more than 50 percent of homes were under contract in two weeks.
Median sale prices were up 4.4 percent year over year for the second month in a row. In a market with such a limited supply of inventory, this moderate price growth has given buyers some relief. The national median sale price fell slightly month over month to $267,500 in September. Compared to August, 11.8 percent fewer homes sold and 7.8 percent fewer homes were listed for sale, in line with a seasonal slowdown in housing activity heading into the last three months of the year.
“Here in Southern Florida, especially in the Southwest portion of Miami-Dade county, single family homes that are priced right are selling very quickly thanks to strong buyer demand,” said Redfin real estate agent in Miami Cecilia Cordova. “There are a lot of first-time homebuyers entering the market right now and they definitely seem to prefer single-family homes to condos. Unfortunately there’s a lack of single family homes for sale in their target price range, so homes that are available and priced below $400,000 usually always have multiple offers. This is causing some price growth for that specific portion of the market, but we aren’t seeing the same competition or price growth for more expensive homes.”
New listings were relatively flat in September, up a mere 0.8% from a year earlier. All told, there were 7 percent fewer homes available for sale last month than in September 2015.
New construction has also fallen short of homebuyer demand, but there is some good news on this front. Though housing starts fell 9 percent in September year-over-year, the decline was mainly attributable to a pullback in the construction of apartment buildings. Single-family housing starts were almost 10 percent higher year-to-date in September than last year. However, the majority of building continues to be in the high-end segment. The lack of new construction of starter homes is a big challenge for a market that is fueled by millennial first-time buyers.
Though there is gathering strength for single-family-construction after years of weakness, it is still not enough to offset continued declines in existing inventory. We expect low inventory to be a permanent fixture in the 2017 housing market.
Prices
Competition
Inventory
