Buyer demand has shown no signs of slowing down as homes are selling nine days faster than this time last year, despite 15 consecutive weeks of solid price growth, according to realtor.com®‘s Weekly Recovery Report for the week ending Aug. 22. With national inventory down 37 percent year-over-year, buyers’ heightened demand is creating a marketplace that tilts the scales in favor of sellers as bidding wars, multiple offers and a blistering pace of sales become the new normal.
The realtor.com® Housing Market Recovery Index reached 106.6 nationwide for the week ending Aug. 22, posting a 1.8 point increase over last week and 6.6 points above the pre-COVID baseline of January 2020. The ‘housing demand’ component of the index, measured by growth in search traffic, remained above the recovery baseline, with this week’s index reaching 124.1, the highest index value since March. However, the ‘housing supply’ component, measured by new listing growth, declined back down to 95.5, after having briefly surpassed the recovery baseline two weeks ago.
“There’s a record level of buyers competing in the housing market right now,” said Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com®. “In a typical year, buyer-seller activity would be dwindling down heading into Labor Day, but 2020 has been nothing short of abnormal. It may be late August, but we’re in the thick of the homebuying season, with busy open houses, multiple offers and even bidding wars becoming the common theme in many markets. First-time home buyers face the biggest hurdles and have to lean on financing to keep their home ownership dreams alive”.
Weekly listings data findings:
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Media Contacts:
Cody Horvat, cody.horvat@move.com