Real estate prices have soared in the past year and a half. Because of brisk demand, the number of homes for sale now has fallen in many parts of the country.
One reason for the price increases is the large relocation of many Americans. Some have decided to leave expensive coastal cities like San Francisco and New York, where median home prices are well above the national average. The inland cities they favor have both lower home prices and lower costs of living. Also, these locations often are considered to have a better quality of life. Ironically, the movement to these cities has driven home prices in them higher.
Another reason people have bought new homes in impressive numbers is low mortgage rates. While this appears to be coming to an end, mortgage rates were near historic lows for several years.
The fact that millions of people can work from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed them to be more mobile as well.
A new study from Realtor.com reviewed home buying trends in January. In its Monthly Housing Report, researchers came to the conclusion that “It’s early days for the 2022 housing market, but new data shows homebuyers are already off to the real estate races.” One measure for this is that the average home for sale in America was on the market for 61 days. This was 10 days less than in January 2021 and 29 days less than in the same month from 2017 to 2020.
Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said, “But it’s a different story on the other side of the closing table, with new seller listings continuing to decline in January. Factors like Omicron uncertainties could be causing sellers to hesitate even when they know housing conditions are favorable.”
The price of homes for sales stayed at the historic high set in December when they reached $375,000. List prices in some cities soared, led by Las Vegas’s increase of $460,000. San Jose remained the most expensive market, with a median list price of $1,298,000. That was up 8.6% from the year before.
The city with the lowest median days on market is Nashville at 29 days, or about half the national figure. The median listing price in Nashville was $453,000, up 13.8%.
These are the 10 American cities running out of houses for sale:
| City | Median Listing Price | Median Days on Market |
|---|---|---|
| Nashville, Tenn. | $453,000 | 29 |
| Denver, Colo. | $640,000 | 35 |
| San Diego, Calif. | $840,000 | 35 |
| San Jose, Calif. | $1,298,000 | 35 |
| Raleigh, N.C. | $425,000 | 36 |
| Las Vegas, Nev. | $460,000 | 38 |
| San Francisco, Calif. | $949,000 | 39 |
| Seattle, Wash. | $695,000 | 39 |
| Phoenix, Ariz. | $495,000 | 40 |
| Sacramento, Calif. | $620,000 | 40 |
Click here to see which are the most expensive cities in which to buy a home.
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