Housing Supply Overview
Mortgage rates trending lower are a boost to home buyers, but the declines in the stock market have both a psychological and practical impact for some prospective home buyers. A watchful eye must be maintained on the spread of COVID-19 and whether it begins to impact the overall economy, which would lead to a tempering of buyer activity in the future. For the 12-month period spanning March 2019 through February 2020, Pending Sales in the Western Upstate region were up 3.9 percent overall. The price range with the largest gain in sales was the $150,001 to $200,000 range, where they increased 14.7 percent.
The overall Median Sales Price was up 4.9 percent to $182,500. The property type with the largest price gain was the Single-Family Homes segment, where prices increased 5.9 percent to $187,500. The price range that tended to sell the quickest was the $100,000 and Below range at 83 days; the price range that tended to sell the slowest was the $300,001 and above range at 119 days.
Market-wide, inventory levels were up 13.6 percent. The property type that gained the most inventory was the Condos segment, where it increased 48.5 percent. That amounts to 3.9 months supply for Single-Family homes and 5.6 months supply for Condos.
Monthly Indicators
As we progressed through February, the actual and expected impacts of COVID-19 continued to grow, with concerns of economic impact reaching the stock market in the last week of the month. As the stock market declined, so did mortgage rates, offering a bad news-good news situation. While short term declines in the stock market can sting, borrowers who lock in today’s low rates will benefit significantly in the long term.
New Listings were up 15.8 percent to 614. Pending Sales decreased 32.5 percent to Inventory grew 13.6 percent to 1,925 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 4.0 percent to $180,000. Days on Market decreased 8.8 percent to 104 days. Months Supply of Inventory was up 7.9 percent to 4.1 months, indicating that supply increased relative to demand.
The recently released January ShowingTime Showing Index® saw a 20.2 percent year-over-year increase in showing traffic nationwide. All regions of the country were up double digits from the year before, with the Midwest Region up 15.7 percent and the West Region up 34.1 percent. As showing activity is a leading indicator for future home sales, the 2020 housing market is off to a strong start, though it will be important to watch the spread of COVID-19 and its potential impacts to the overall economy in the coming months.
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