Weekly Housing Market Monitor May 18-22, 2020 Flash Survey: Economic Pulse - Residential*
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Weekly Housing Market Monitor May 18-22, 2020 Flash Survey: Economic Pulse - Residential*
• 34% of members were able to complete nearly all aspects of transactions while respecting social distance. With minor modifications such as using masks and gloves, 45% felt person-to-person interactions were still required. 6% postponed home searching and 11% stated that the mandate of stay-at-home prevents them from completing transactions.
• Of those who are working with home sellers with active listings, the majority reported changing how their clients’ homes are viewed while the home remains on the market. 92% reported that home sellers have made changes, including stopping open houses or requiring all those who enter the home to take appropriate precautions before entering the home.
Weekly Housing Market Monitor
Existing Sales Decline 17.8 % in April but Prices Rose 7.4%
• Existing home sales fell to an annual rate of 4.3 million in April 2020, down 17.8% from the prior month and 17.2% from one year ago.
• Compared to the prior month, sales declined the most in the West (-25%) followed by the South (-17.9%) and Northeast (-16.9%), and the least in the Midwest (-12%).
• Prices remain generally firm although the pace of acceleration slowed a bit, benefiting buyers. The national median existing-home sales price was $286,600, up 7.4% from one year ago.
• Inventory is still tight, equivalent to 4.1 months of the current sales pace. There were 1.47 million homes for sale as of the end of April, down 19.7% from one year ago.
Weekly Housing Market Monitor
First-time Buyers: 36% of Sales as Investors Share Falls to 10%
• 56% of properties sold within one month, with the median days on market at 27 days.
• The share of sales to first-time homebuyers rose to 36% in April 2020, while the sales for investment rental/vacation use declined to 10%.
• Cash sales made up a smaller share, at 15%.
• Distressed sales made up 3% of sales.
• REALTORS® reported that 4% of buyers and 5% of sellers purchased /sold a property based solely on virtual tours/showing/open house.
Weekly Housing Market Monitor Market Outlook:
Listings and Pending Sales Continue to Improve in May
• New contracts and new listings are coming back*. As of May 17, new contracts were down 20% on a year-over-year basis, from a deep decline of 40% in the last week of April. New pending sales were down 29%, from a trough of 41% in the first week of May.
• REALTORS® expect home prices to remain essentially unchanged in the next 3 months. Forty-percent of REALTORS® who responded to the NAR’s monthly REALTORS® Confidence Index survey expect home prices to increase in the next 3 months. Less than 10% expect prices to decline by more than 10%.
Weekly Housing Market Monitor
Public interest in open houses has decreased last week by 50% compared to a year ago. However, on a weekly basis, more and more people are looking for open houses since their interest has increased for 5 weeks in a row. Interest remains strong in Montana, Connecticut and Wyoming.
For more information on recent trends in your metro area, see the Local Market Reports. NAR Research produces the Local Market Reports (LMRs) quarterly, which provide insights into the fundamentals and direction of the nation's largest metropolitan housing markets.