As Spring Buying Season Approaches, Inventory Drops

Buyers entering the housing market in the spring buying season will face difficulties as housing inventory dropped nearly 50% compared to 2020. The Washington Post reports the number of homes for sale in February 2021 was 48.6% lower than February 2020. When it comes to newly listed homes for the month, those were lower than 2020 levels by 24.5%. That’s nearly 207,000 homes short compared to the average number of listings for the first two months of the last four years. A 25% increase in listings is needed to bring inventory back to April 2020’s level.

Severe weather, including the ice and snow that hit Texas in February, probably affected the number of new listings coming on the market. New listings in Texas declined the most, such as in Austin, where new listings were down 87.8 percent in February compared with February 2020, Dallas (down 79.8 percent), San Antonio (down 77.2 percent) and Houston (down 73.5 percent).

The lack of homes for sale and steady buyer demand meant that home prices continued to rise in February. The median listing price nationwide was $353,000, up 13.7 percent compared with February 2020. Homes are selling faster, too, in a median of 70 days nationwide, 11 days faster than last year at this time.

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