Homeowners are showing a willingness to put their homes on the market at increasing rates, marking a continuous shift away from the “lock-in effect,” as detailed in Realtor.com®’s September Housing Trends Report.
Active listings were up 34% year-over-year, though that number was still down 23.2% within a five-year timespan. The average median home listing price is also on the rise—increasing 36% since 2019.
“Generally speaking, relief is brewing. On the one hand, buyers are seeing not only an increase in home listings, but they’re also seeing homes spend more time on the market, which means more options and less frenzy to buy,” said Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.com. “For sellers, there’s been positive movement in home value as indications show an increase in price growth since before the pandemic. And, all around, the decline in mortgage rates are lowering the barrier to entry and encouraging people to get into the market once again.”
Several regions saw their active listings jump, led by the Seattle metro area, which saw a 41.8% increase in listings year-over-year. This was followed by San Jose at 27.1% and Washington, D.C., at 26.2%, according to the report. Paired with the decrease in mortgage rates, these trends show a willingness to sell where previously there was more reticence, marking the possibility of more movement soon.
“Sellers, especially those who are locked into a low rate, have been waiting for market conditions to change. Now that we’re seeing mortgage rates down to their lowest levels in two years, there are signs of movement, with more sellers putting homes on the market even in what’s typically a real estate shoulder season,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “We expect mortgage rates to hold around 6% through the end of the year, which is a significant difference from their 7.8% high in October 2023.”
While seller willingness to list increased, the average market-to-sale time also increased from August to September, as detailed by the report. The average home listing lasted 55 days in September, up two days from 53 in August. Despite this increase, September was at its slowest rate of market-to-sale time since 2019, according to Realtor.com’s report.
The average market-to-sale time varied from region to region, with the Texas cities of San Antonio and Austin, along with the Florida cities of Tampa and Miami, seeing the longest time on the market. Austin and San Antonio clocked in at 72 and 67 days, respectively, while Tampa and Miami averaged 66 and 73 days, respectively.
This contrasted with coastal regions, where average time on the market was markedly shorter. California and New England saw the shortest time on the market, with midwestern Milwaukee the outlier geographically. Milwaukee’s average market-to-sale time was 31 days, while San Jose and San Francisco were at 31 and 33 days, respectively. In the East, Boston saw its list-to-sale time at an average of 31 days, with Hartford at 33 days.
Average home prices are also drastically different than at pre-pandemic levels, the report concluded. The median listing price per square foot has grown by 50.9% since September 2019. New York led this price rise with a 71.9% rise in price per square foot since 2019, followed by Tampa at 63.6% and Hartford at 62.3%. Less explosive price increases occurred in San Francisco (22.7%), New Orleans (25%) and Birmingham (26.7%), per the report.
To read the full report, click here.
