Redfin: Home Sales Down 3rd Straight Month
Redfin, Seattle, said home sales fell by 8.1 percent in September from a year ago, the third straight monthly decline and the largest decline posted since July 2016.
The report also noted continued strong home price growth in September, up by 7.6 percent to a national median sale price of $288,000 across all markets Redfin serves.
Nationally, Redfin said the number of homes for sale plunged by nearly 11 percent, continuing a 24-month streak of declining inventory. The number of new listings in September fell by 7.7 percent from a year ago, leaving 3.3 months of supply.
“The housing market is running on fumes due to low inventory,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “September marks the first time since 2014 that we’ve seen three consecutive months of year-over-year sales declines. The inventory shortage is most severe for affordable homes. There has not been an increase in homes priced under $260,000 in two years.”
Redfin reported median days on market ticked up to 42 in September from 39 in August. The market was still five days faster than last September. Average sale-to-list price ratio was 98.4 percent and 23.6 percent of homes sold above their list price in September.
Consistently with other home price reports, Redfin said weather took its toll in several markets, with Hurricane Irma in Florida and Harvey in Houston. Real estate activity was put on hold as communities dealt with the storm and its aftermath. As a result of hurricane-related disruptions, Redfin expects real estate activity to be more volatile than normal in these markets.
Home sales in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa all declined by more than 15 percent compared to last September. Miami sales took the biggest hit with a year-over-year decline of 38.4 percent. In Houston, home sales tumbled more than 25 percent in August, but recovered in September, and were essentially flat (0.2%) compared to a year ago.
The report said new listings from homes priced in the lowest tercile of the market (under $260,000) fell by nearly 15 percent year over year. Inventory for the middle tercile of new listings, priced between $260,000 and $470,000, fell by 4.7 percent year over year. The only inventory increase was for listings above $470,000, up 2.3 percent from a year ago.
“The good news is that so far markets affected by Hurricane Harvey, like Houston, are rebounding in terms of sales quickly,” Richardson said. “That bodes well for Floridian markets.”
Other report notes:
–Seattle was the fastest market, with nearly half of all homes pending sale in just 10 days, down from 12 days from a year earlier. San Jose, Calif., Boston and Portland, Ore. were the next fastest markets at 14 median days on market, followed by Oakland, Calif. (15).
–The most competitive market in September was San Francisco, where 71.7% of homes sold above list price, followed by 71.6% in San Jose, 64.6% in Oakland, 47.7% in Seattle and 42.7% in Tacoma, Wash.
–San Jose saw the nation’s highest price growth, rising 16.3% since last year to a median of $1 million. Tucson, Ariz., followed with 15.8%, along with Tacoma (14.5%), Las Vegas (14%) and Seattle (13.3%). Just three metros saw price declines in September: Camden, N.J. (-6.4%), Baltimore (-3.1%) and Newark, N.J. (-2.7%).
–Home sales in Miami and Fort Lauderdale declined by 38.4% and 32.4%, respectively, as Hurricane Irma ground the market to a halt.
–Twelve of 74 metros saw sales increase from last year. Camden led the nation in year-over-year sales growth, up 8.8%, followed by Honolulu, up 7.8% and Detroit, up 4.8%.
San Jose saw the largest decrease in overall inventory, falling 51.7% since last September. Rochester, N.Y. (-27.3%), Buffalo, N.Y. (-26.9%) and Oakland (-26.5%) also saw far fewer homes available on the market than a year ago. Salt Lake City, Utah saw the highest increase in the number of homes for sale, up 39.6% year over year, followed by Baton Rouge, La. (34.0%) and Tulsa, Okla. (13.8%).
