The number listings on realtor.com in three U.S. cities are down over 30% year-to-year. In the Fla. cities listed, however, the drops range from 16.5% to 8.8%.
December had the largest year-over-year decline for housing inventory in almost three years, with a notable 12% decline. It pushed the number of homes for sale in the U.S. to its lowest level since January 2018, according to the December 2019 Housing Trends report released by realtor.com.
In the four Florida cities included in the realtor.com study, however, inventory drops were more modest. They ranged from a 16.5% inventory decline in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater to 8.8% in Jacksonville.
Florida inventory year-to-year declines
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater: 16.5%; median days on market up by 4 days to 64
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford: 14%; median days on market down by 2 days to 68
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach: 8.9%; median days on market up by 1 day to 89
- Jacksonville: 8.8%; median days on market down by 5 days to 73
The realtor.com analysis, which considers only listings advertised on realtor.com’s website, found that the national inventory decline accelerating across all price levels, including the luxury market.
In December, inventory of homes priced under $200,000 declined by 18.1% year-over-year – higher than the 16.5% drop in November. Mid-tier housing priced between $200,000 and $750,000 also declined at an accelerated pace, up 10.2% year-over-year compared to November’s decline of 7.4%. Listings of homes priced over $1 million shrunk by 4.4% year-over-year, up from nearly 2% in November.
“The market is struggling with a large housing undersupply just as 4.8 million millennials are reaching 30-years of age in 2020, a prime age for many to purchase their first home,” says realtor.com Senior Economist George Ratiu. “The significant inventory drop we saw in December is a harbinger of the continuing imbalance expected to plague this year’s markets, as the number of homes for sale are poised to reach historically low levels.”
The inventory shortage gripping the U.S. housing market is showing no signs of slowing anytime soon. December’s 12% year-over-year inventory decline is an acceleration from November’s drop of 9.5% and equates to a loss of nearly 155,000 listings compared to December 2018. Additionally, new listings are failing to restore the market to equilibrium as the volume of newly listed properties also declined by 11.2% year-over-year.
Nationally, homes sold in 79 days in December 2019 – two days more quickly than December 2018.
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