Good news for home buyers: More homes are now available for sale. Unfortunately, you may need to be a millionaire to afford them.
Nationwide, there were 1.32 million active home listings in February, up 6% from a year ago, according to data from Realtor.com. This marked the fifth consecutive month when housing inventory has increased — and this uptick in the number of homes for sale has especially benefited larger markets.
Cities like Denver and San Jose have begun to see some relief when it comes to the low number of homes for sale. Those inventory constraints had helped drive prices skyward, pricing many would-be home buyers out of the market.
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Denver, in particular, experienced the biggest uptick in housing inventory of any metropolitan area in the U.S., with 155% more homes available for sale this month than there were a year ago.
Metropolitan area Active listing count Active listing count change from Feb. 2018 Median listing price Median listing price change from Feb. 2018 Days on market Days on market change from Feb. 2018 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo. 11,270.5 155.1% $462,025 -14.9% 38 13.4% San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. 1,520.5 124.8% $1,079,800 -10% 26.5 47.2% Watertown-Fort Drum, N.Y. 1,465.5 86.3% $159,950 8.7% 154 7.3% Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. 5,796.0 85.2% $592,045 12.2% 48.5 67.2% Boulder, Colo. 1,570.0 55.1% $595,000 -6.8% 43 13.2% Lynchburg, Va. 2,135.0 53.3% $139,950 -38.4% 144.5 45.2% San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif. 4,754.0 52.8% $890,050 -1% 29 38.1% Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif. 893.0 51.4% $454,050 -1.1% 43 30.3% Provo-Orem, Utah 2,180.5 50% $380,022 2.7% 52 7.2% Colorado Springs, Colo. 2,124.0 48.0% $384,950 -4.4% 45.5 5.8% Stockton-Lodi, Calif. 1,323.0 44.2% $392,500 3.3% 47 23.7% Santa Rosa, Calif. 951.0 42.3% $669,538 -8.1% 75 127.3% Greeley, Colo. 2,009.0 41.9% $377,645 0.3% 45.5 -9.0% Russellville, Ariz. 443.5 40.4% $151,025 8.2% 92.5 -0.3% San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif. 6,740.0 39.0% $659,050 -2.3% 35.5 7.6% Napa, Calif. 367.5 38.7% $808,050 6.0% 91 7.7% Merced, Calif. 926.0 38.4% $305,050 2.6% 64 30.6% Ogden-Clearfield, Utah 1,443.5 38.4% $369,950 6.3% 49 27.3% Midland, Texas 366.5 38.3% $349,950 5.2% 40.5 7.3%
But the increased inventory isn’t necessarily translating into lower home prices in all of these cities. The median listing price nationwide in February was actually 7% higher than a year ago at $295,000. And the median length of time homes spend on the market remained unchanged at 83 days — a sign that competition for properties remains fierce.
Moreover, housing inventory isn’t being added equally across all price points. “We still see fewer homes priced under $200,000 on the market, so entry-level buyers won’t see the same availability of options as high-end buyers,” Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist, said in the report.
And while housing market experts still expect that there will be fewer home sales in 2019 than a year ago, added inventory and falling mortgage rates could provide an opening for prospective buyers sitting on the sidelines. Of course, more people choosing to dive back into the housing market could lead to more competition, which could in turn offset some of the factors that are making buying a home more affordable.
