Home Prices Rising Amid Continued Inventory Challenge

It’s more of the same, according to realtor.com®’s Weekly Housing Report for the week ending Sept. 19. Home prices continue rising and inventory continues to pose a challenge in today’s markets. Some areas are, however, on the rebound after wildfires and hurricanes impacted the real estate markets.

The latest on home prices? They’ve continued to grow at last week’s record-breaking pace of 11.1 percent, according to the report. This is the 19th consecutive week of price acceleration, and more than double what was recorded in January 2020. And homes aren’t lasting long. They’re selling in 53 days—12 days faster, on average, than the same time last year, and a day faster since last week.

But inventory is still low. According to the report, there are approximately 390,000 fewer homes on the market than the 3.30 million listed at the same time last year. Overall, the number of homes on the market is down 39 percent YoY. New listings are down 15 percent YoY—a slight improvement over last week’s 17 percent drop.

Realtor.com®’s Housing Market Recovery Index is 107.2 this week—1.0 point stronger than last week and 7.2 points stronger than before COVID. According to the report, some of this improvement can be attributed to containment efforts of recent wildfires and hurricanes.

“Sellers are more reluctant to list their home given the uncertainty over the economy and the pandemic environment. Buyers on the other hand, especially hungry first timers, remain largely unfazed by the challenges, and are motivated by low mortgage rates and the fear of missing out on the right home,” said Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com®. “The majority of sellers are also buyers, so even as new listings hit the market, another buyer is also added. Adding to the inventory issues, thousands of previously vacant homes, such as second homes and rentals, have been reoccupied by their owners during the pandemic, effectively taking them off the market.”