The housing market might be cooling down a bit, but compared to a year ago, it’s still red-hot.
Realtor.com’s weekly housing trends report takes a look at where the market stands on both a week-to-week and year-to-year basis. And, as of the week ending Jan. 29, demand was still sky-high.
The U.S. median listing price is 11.8% higher than it was at this time last year, the site says. That’s the seventh straight week of double-digit gains. It comes despite mortgage rates inching higher and continued bidding wars for sellers.
Supply remains an issue, with new listings down 7% compared to the same period in 2021. The pace of that decline has been shrinking since the start of the year, though, Realtor.com says, and we could start to see a growth in listings compared to 2021 by March or so, right as the spring (typically a busy time for realtors) arrives.
That said, buyers shouldn’t linger if they’re considering a bid. Because inventory is low, homes are spending 12 fewer days on the market, on average, than they did a year ago. A typical home spent just 54 days on the market in December, the site says. That’s faster than any pre-pandemic year’s fastest month.
“While we expect this year’s buyers will eventually see some relief from the 2021 frenzy, home shoppers continue to face challenging conditions in the early days of 2022,” said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist. “In fact, last week’s home price and time on market trends suggest competition intensified.”
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