When the coronavirus began spreading in the U.S., the high-end home market was the hardest hit, falling below last year’s rate, with a 51.4 percent drop. At the more affordable price points, listings fell 32.1 YoY, according to a new Zillow report.
However, the markets are showing improvement, with new for-sale listings up 5.9 percent last week from the previous week. And for the high-end market, the rebound is higher, increasing 8 percent. This could be an indicator that seller and buyer confidence is strengthening.
Still, the markets are not where they should be at this time. According to Zillow, the current rate is more typical of mid-December rather than the normally-bustling spring market. Inventory is down 1.6 percent weekly and 16.7 percent YoY—the biggest decrease since the pandemic began.
Market Activity in Top Metro Areas:
New York, N.Y.
New Listings – YoY Change (Total): -62.3%
Newly Pending Listings – WoW Change: 3.0%
Median List Price: $592,183
Median List Price – YoY Change: 2.9%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.
New Listings – YoY Change (Total): -38.6%
Newly Pending Listings – WoW Change: 13.1%
Median List Price: $865,915
Median List Price – YoY Change: 6.5%
Chicago, Ill.
New Listings – YoY Change (Total): -40.7%
Newly Pending Listings – WoW Change: 5.7%
Median List Price: $328,720
Median List Price – YoY Change: -5.3%
Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
New Listings – YoY Change (Total): -21.6%
Newly Pending Listings – WoW Change: 6.9%
Median List Price: $341,877
Median List Price – YoY Change: -4.9%
Philadelphia, Pa.
New Listings – YoY Change (Total): -51.2%
Newly Pending Listings – WoW Change: 0.6%
Median List Price: $295,395
Median List Price – YoY Change: 4.4%
“Many sellers with the flexibility to delay or temporarily remove listings have opted to do so, perhaps waiting out the uncertainty. Now that more buyers are in the market, those sellers are wading back in, joining those who had remained motivated to sell for any number of life reasons and adapted with virtual tools and social distancing,” said Skylar Olsen, senior principal economist at Zillow. “We have not yet seen prices affected, though we expect them to fall modestly on a national level as the pandemic plays out.”
For more information, please visit www.zillow.com.
