The national median listing price increased 8.5 percent year over year to $349,000 in July — a new high according to realtor.com’s latest Monthly Housing Trends report released on Thursday. Median listing prices grew in 48 of the 50 largest metros, with markets in the Northeast outperforming the rest of the country.
“The coronavirus has impacted every corner of the U.S., but it hasn’t hit every area equally or at the same time,” explained realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale in a prepared statement. “The U.S. housing market performance is closely mirroring COVID’s path, which is providing clues into what we can expect for various housing markets in the months to come.”
The average days on market decreased from 75 days in June to 60 days in July. However, buyers in the Northeast snapped up homes even faster with average days on market being slashed by nearly two weeks in Philadelphia (-13 days), Boston (-12 days), and Hartford, Conn. (-12 days).
Meanwhile, markets in the Southeast failed to match the veracity of its northern neighbors — homes in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach languished on the market an extra 24 days in July.
Just like the days on market, national for-sale inventory levels reached new lows with a 33 percent decline from July 2019. Within the nation’s 50 largest metros, inventory declines were more pronounced with a 34.8 percent annual decline.
Once again, northeastern markets rose to the top of the heap with Baltimore (-48.7 percent) and Providence (-47.7 percent) experiencing the largest drop in for-sale inventory behind Riverside-San Bernardino (-50.4 percent).
New listings were still down annually but rebounded a whopping 30.7 percent from April. Once again, new listing activity was strongest in the Northeast, with new listings only 1.2 percent below July 2019. Meanwhile, new listings were down 10 percent in the West, 16.1 percent in the South, and 20.8 percent in the Midwest.
“After being particularly hard hit in March and April, new Coronavirus cases remain stable in the Northeast and we’re seeing buyers return to the market in force,” Hale concluded. “If this same trend follows in the South and Midwest — where outbreaks continue to rise, we could see a flurry of activity well into the fall, especially as schools delay their openings.”
