As the new school year gets underway, the nation’s housing market isn’t expected to improve much, with inventory shortages and rising home prices likely to continue.
The names at the top of the list for the hottest housing markets in August should look pretty familiar except for one housing market that made a surprising jump, moving six places on the list.
According to the latest data from realtor.com, inventory continued to sell at a record pace in August, moving 8% faster than in August 2016.
For comparison, the hottest housing market in the country had a median age of inventory of 31 days in August, while No. 10 on the list had a median age of inventory of 39 days in August, which isn’t a huge difference. The full list can be seen in the chart below.
Even though the national median age of listings on realtor.com in August is 66 days, which is two days more than last month, it is still six days faster than the median age for August 2016.
The median nationwide home list price, $275,000, has remained unchanged since May and is 10% higher than it was last August.
Unfortunately for home shoppers, numbers are not expected to improve a lot.
By the end of the month, realtor.com said that another 500,000 new listings will have hit the market in August, representing the biggest year-over-year increase in new inventory since March 2016.
But the problem is that these aren’t the houses the market needs. Many of the homes being listed are at relatively high price points, failing to provide relief to the lower end of the market where there is the most demand.
“As we enter the last days of summer, many frustrated house hunters know this tale of steep prices, limited options and intense competition all too well. For first-time buyers, those conditions aren’t likely to improve much during the fall, unfortunately, though there could be the start of some relief in the mid- to upper-tier,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com.
Check below for the chart of the 10 hottest housing markets.
Click to enlarge
(Source: realtor.com)
Given Detroit’s major jump, realtor.com gave a little more insight on what’s going on in the city since its infamous fall following the financial crisis.
For August, the Detroit metro area jumped six places on the list, making it the fourth hottest market in the country, up from its No. 10 spot last month.
“Detroit jumped into realtor.com’s top five hottest housing markets last month, said Hale. “While prices are increasing in Detroit, homes are still priced about 20 percent below the national average, which has made the market a hotbed for buyers. On top of that, the market’s median income is nearly identical to the national average, which gives those looking for a home a lot of buying power in this metro.”
