Faster Home Sales Due To High Demand

There is no seasonal slowdown on the horizon for the housing market. The pandemic might have put the brakes on for a short time but the record-low mortgage rates and lift of the stay-at-home orders have home sales going at a fast pace.

September saw homes sold 12 days faster than they did in September 2019. Realtor.com also reported that homes sold 39% faster this year during September than the average 25% faster usually seen this time of year. According to Realtor.com, it took just 54 days to sell a home during the month making this the shortest time since they began tracking this metric.

All four regions of the U.S. saw an uptick in home sales. In the Northeast homes spent 13 days less on the market than this time last year, in the South homes sold 11 days faster, in the Midwest they sold 9 days faster and in the West, it took 7 days less to sell a home.

“Many buyers tend to put their home search on hold after the start of the school year, but remote learning and the desire for more space continued to fuel buyer interest in September,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at realtor.com. “Unseasonably high buyer interest coupled with historically low inventory and favorable mortgage rates are creating a perfect storm in the housing market. While this is good news for anyone looking to sell their home, it has created tremendous competition among buyers.”

The demand is making the prices for homes appreciate. The median price of a home that was sold in September was $350,000 which was up over 11% annually. Bidding wars are becoming the norm nowadays. The market is seeing a typical buyer pay around $20,000 more for a home than this time last year. Typically buyers face approximately 9% more competition but this year they are facing 25% more competition.

Low inventory in the housing market is only adding fuel to the fire when it comes to demand. It was reported that supply is down 39% annually and the number of listings is down 21%. Across the 50 metros, there has been no increase in inventory. Many markets are only seeing half the supply of homes for sale than what was on the market a year ago.

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