Housing Market Briefly Pauses, Remains Fierce

Two recent events caused Americans to pause on selling and buying, but the market overall remains fiery. Both the presidential election and new wave of COVID-19 resulted in buyers and sellers to avert their attention elsewhere. The number of new listings for existing homes dropped last week, decreasing by 12% annually for the week ending Nov. 7. The week before, the number of new listings dropped 9% already. According to Realtor.com, the lack of new listings affected the number of home sales, which also experienced a significant dip last week.

Due in part to the lack of new listings hitting the market last week, the total number of homes for sale recorded a dip too, with total inventory across the U.S. now 39% below last year’s levels.

The speed in which homes are changing hands as well as listing price changes held steady last week with no drastic gains, but both metrics continue “to signal a tight market,” the report said.

With buyers competing for limited inventory, the homes that are available are selling fast. Last week, the average time a property spent on the market was 13 days faster than a year ago, marking the seventh consecutive week that homes are selling 13 or 14 days faster than they did in 2019.

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