Inventory took another hard hit in February, dropping by 48% over a two year period and subsequently pushing housing prices up across the board, Zillow reports. There were roughly 730,000 homes listed for sale in February after an 11.9% monthly decline from January, with markets like Raleigh, Hartford, Providence, and Miami seeing the greatest supply deficits.
As a result, home appreciation is up 32.4% since February 2020, and rent prices also rose by hundreds of dollars per month, causing an average $3,400 increase in one-year leases. Nonetheless, homebuyer demand remains robust, and homes are selling at record speeds across the country as competition tightens in the first months of 2022.
But enduring and extremely strong demand from home buyers meant that those homes that were listed got scooped up in just 11 days in February, six days faster than February 2021 and a full 25 days faster than in February 2020.
And despite the challenging shopping environment, sales are still brisk for this time of year. More homes transacted last month than in either February 2019 or 2020, though sales were 11% lower than in 2021. Sales generally slow through March before taking off in April, likely what we’re seeing now.