The number of homes listed for sale in October fell for the second consecutive month but the difference in the number of homes listed for sale year-over-year continues to shrink according to the latest housing data of 146 metro areas released by Realtor.com.
The total number of existing homes listed for sale fell 0.71 percent from September to October with 1,905,064 single-family homes, condos, townhomes, and co-ops listed for sale during the month. The decline in inventory follows a 1.68 percent decline from August to September. Compared to a year ago, there were 1.51 percent fewer homes available for purchase during the month and despite the decline in October, that number continues to shrink monthly.
The median list price for an existing home in October was $199,000, down $500 from September but still 7.6 percent higher than October of last year.
California still continued to dominate in the areas with the most improved year-over-year increase in list prices by placing five cities in the top ten, including two in the top five. Detroit once again showed the most improvement with a 44.33 percent increase in annual list prices followed by the Stockton-Lodi area in California with a 40.80 improvement and the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc area with a year-over-year gain of 33.39 percent.
Rounding out the top five were Reno, NV with a 29.29 percent gain and the Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay area of Florida with a 27.78 percent increase.
The area’s suffering the greatest decline in median list prices were Akron, OH (-7.93%), South Bend, IN (-7.79%), Springfield, IL (-4.13%), Cincinnati, OH (-3.35%) and the Shreveport-Bossier City area of Louisiana (-2.79%)
List prices are not necessarily indicative of selling prices, but may signal market sentiment by sellers. All together, 126 of the areas saw an increase in list prices, while four areas were unchanged from the previous year.
The average number of days that an existing home spent on the market increased to 94 in October from 93 in September but was down from 106 days in October of last year. Thirty-nine out of the 146 metropolitan areas required 100 or more days to sell a home which was up from 34 the previous month.
Residents selling their homes in the southern region of South Carolina continued to wait the longest to sell their homes, averaging 175 days on the market. Residents in Oakland had the shortest wait for the 25th consecutive month, averaging 30 days on the market.
Tags: housing inventory, listed homes, home prices, median sales price, average list price
Source:
Realtor.com
Reported by Chris Moore
