Press release
Realtor.com® Weekly Recovery Report: Housing's Supply and Demand Imbalance Enters Uncharted Territory
Real estate activity grows beyond pre-pandemic pace for sixth week in a row SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Buyer demand has shown no signs
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[{"type":"text","content":"Real estate activity grows beyond pre-pandemic pace for sixth week in a row\n\n\nSANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- 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. \nThe 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.\n\"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\". \nWeekly listings data findings: \nTime on market is now nine days faster than last year. Whether the urgency comes from a desire to lock in a low mortgage rate or to make a bid before someone else does, buyers are moving faster than this time last year. This means homes are sitting on the market for less time, despite higher price tags. Total inventory was down 37 percent. Buyers are motivated by low mortgage rates and a strong desire to find their own place as the remote work trend begins to look long term. They're quickly putting offers on homes that come up for sale, evaporating the overal...