Redfin: Home Prices and Sales Showed Steady Growth in January While Inventory Continued to Decline
Last Month was the Fastest January Housing Market on Record
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–U.S. home prices rose 7.0 percent in January and home sales gained 5.6
percent over last year, according to Redfin (www.redfin.com),
the next-generation real estate brokerage.
Inventory fell 12 percent compared to last year, the largest annual drop
in the number of homes for sale since April 2013. The dearth of supply
was due in part to a 5.1 percent annual decline in new listings. But
last month was also the fastest January on record since Redfin began
tracking this measure in 2010. The typical home sold in 59 days — seven
days faster than last year and two weeks faster than January 2015.
“Buyers jumped through three hurdles last month: rising prices, low
inventory and a fast market,” said Redfin Chief Economist Nela
Richardson. “Sellers, however, are still warming the bench as the supply
picture looks weaker than demand. This was the first January in three
years in which new listings fell short of the previous year.”
The national trend of strong home sales and price growth in January was
driven by the country’s more affordable markets. Double-digit sales and
price growth primarily occurred in metro areas with a median sale price
under $300,000, such as Lakeland, Florida, Poughkeepsie, New York, and
Memphis, Tennessee. The highest competition continued to take place in
the tech hubs of the West Coast.
Regional January Highlights
Competition
-
Denver, CO, was the fastest market, with half of all homes pending
sale in just 23 days, down from 43 days a year earlier. Seattle, WA,
and Oakland, CA, were the next fastest markets, with 26 and 27 median
days on market, respectively, followed by Grand Rapids, MI (29), and
Fresno, CA (32). -
Prices were most likely to escalate in San Jose, CA, where 48.8% of
homes sold above list price, followed by 48.5% in Oakland, CA, 47.7%
in San Francisco, CA, 37.3% in Seattle, WA, and 34.4% in Tacoma, WA.
Prices
-
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, had the nation’s highest price growth, rising
17% since last year to $233,995. Cleveland, OH, had the second-highest
growth at 15.4% year-over-year price growth, followed by Cincinnati,
OH (15%), Salt Lake City, UT (14.9%), and Ogden, UT (14.3%). -
Two metros, Baton Rouge, LA (-6.4%), and Allentown, PA (-2.8%), saw
year-over-year price declines in January.
Sales
-
Thirty-three out of 90 metros saw sales surge by double digits from
last year. Lakeland, FL, led the nation in year-over-year sales
growth, up 28.7%, followed by Poughkeepsie, NY, up 28.0%. Memphis, TN,
rounded out the top three with sales up 26.1% from a year ago. -
Columbia, SC, saw the largest decline in sales since last year,
falling 65.0%. Home sales in Grand Rapids, MI, and Buffalo, NY,
declined by 14.3% and 9.9%, respectively.
Inventory
-
Buffalo, NY, had the largest decrease in overall inventory, falling
39.8% since last January. Portsmouth, NH (-35.2%), Rochester, NH
(-34.7%), and Omaha, NE (-34.6%), also saw far fewer homes available
on the market than a year ago. -
Provo, UT, had the highest increase in the number of homes for sale,
up 33.7% year over year, followed by San Jose, CA (17.0%), and
Raleigh, NC (16.7%).
To read the full report, complete with data and charts, please visit the
following link: https://www.redfin.com/blog/2017/02/market-tracker-january-2017.html
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About Redfin Corporation
Redfin (www.redfin.com)
is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own
full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in
the consumer’s favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the
country’s #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to
consumers, including the Redfin
Estimate, the highly accurate automated home-value estimate.
Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered
experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in
commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the
U.S. The company has closed more than $31 billion in home sales to date,
and saved customers more than $335 million in fees, and counting.
For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent,
visit www.redfin.com.
To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin
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Contacts
Redfin Journalist Services:
Jeffery Marino, 206-588-6863
press@redfin.com
