According to a new report from Redfin, the national median home-sale price rose 13% year over year to $334,300 in December, as home-buying demand stayed strong during the run-up to the holidays.
Closed home sales were up 16% from a year earlier, and pending sales were up 35%, according to Redfin. New listings were up just 14%.
“The December housing market felt more like spring than winter,” says Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “Right now, home-buying demand is seemingly endless, and although new listings are up from a year ago, it’s not nearly enough to keep up with demand. This inventory shortage is especially dire in places that have become hot migration destinations during the pandemic, like Salt Lake City.”
Median prices increased in each of the 85 largest metro areas Redfin tracks. The smallest price gains compared to a year earlier were in San Francisco (+3%). The largest price increases were in Bridgeport, Conn. (+28%), Camden, N.J. (+24%) and New Brunswick, N.J. (+21%).
Active listings – the count of all homes that were for sale at any time during the month – fell 22% year over year to their lowest level on record in December: the 17th-straight month of declines. Only five of the 85 largest metros tracked by Redfin posted a year-over-year increase in the count of seasonally adjusted active listings of homes for sale. The largest gains were in San Francisco (+78%), New York (+28%) and San Jose (+25%).
Compared to a year ago, the biggest declines in active housing supply in December were in Salt Lake City (-57%), Kansas City (-51%) and Allentown, Pa. (-49%).
The typical home that sold in December went under contract in 30 days – 20 days less than a year earlier, Redfin adds.
Moreover, 33% of homes sold above list price in December, down slightly from the peak in November but up from 20% a year earlier.
To read the full report, click here.
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