SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The number of
homes available for sale nationwide is currently higher than at any
other point this year, according to the latest Inventory and Price
Watch Report from Trulia®, a home and neighborhood site for
homebuyers and renters. While inventory remains lower than it was a
year ago (down 2.5 percent nationally), the number of homes for
sale declined in Q3 at its slowest annual pace since 2015 and has
actually climbed in a number of notable markets.
Falling inventory and red-hot demand has helped push housing
costs up substantially over the past few years – which, when
coupled with slow wage growth, has meant affordability has
suffered, especially in some of the country's fastest-growing
markets. But that is beginning to change: Some of the largest
annual inventory gains were in the nation's least affordable
markets, including San Jose (66.9
percent), Salt Lake City (45.0
percent) and Seattle (44.3
percent).
2018 Q3 National
Inventory and Price Watch
|
|
2018
Q3
|
Change, 2017 Q3 –
2018 Q3
|
Housing
Segment
|
Median
List Price
|
Share
of
Total
|
Inventory
|
% of
Income
Needed to
Buy
Median
Priced
Home in
Segment
|
%
Change
in
Median
List
Price
|
Percentage
Point
Change in
Share
|
%
Change
in
Inventory
|
Additional
Share of
Income Needed
to Buy a Home
(Percentage
Point Change)
|
Starter
|
$89,000
|
20.9%
|
249,169
|
25.6%
|
11.4%
|
+0.4
|
-0.9%
|
3.3
|
Trade-Up
|
$236,000
|
29.1%
|
347,867
|
24.4%
|
7.3%
|
+0.9
|
+0.6%
|
2.3
|
Premium
|
$450,000
|
50.0%
|
596,702
|
21.0%
|
3.4%
|
-1.2
|
-4.8%
|
1.3
|
"Home buyers may be pleasantly surprised to see more homes on
the market, as housing inventory starts to make a comeback after
years of decline," said Cheryl
Young, senior economist, Trulia. "While this is ultimately
good news for frustrated buyers, years of steadily increasing
prices mean that those hoping to buy a home will need to spend a
bigger share of their income once they find one. Nonetheless, those
buyers daunted by low inventory and high prices have reason to be
cautiously optimistic as parts of the housing market begin to
ease."
Modest Relief for Starter Home Inventory
Starter homes
continue to make up the smallest share of available inventory,
however the share of both starter and trade-up homes has grown
since this time last year, up 0.4 and 0.9 percentage points
respectively. Premium homes made up 50.0 percent of available
listings, down 1.2 percentage points from the same period last
year.
Growth in Inventory-Starved Areas
Over the past
quarter, some of the most expensive metros have started to see the
biggest increases in inventory. Six of the 10 metros with the
largest annual inventory increases are in California including, San Jose (66.9 percent), San Diego (37.7 percent), Ventura County (31.6 percent), Oakland (25.9 percent), Bakersfield (21.4 percent) and Orange County (20.7 percent).
|
YoY Change in
Inventory (2017
Q3 – 2018 Q3)
|
Rank in Terms
of
Median Home
Price (2018 Q3)
|
Starter Home
Affordability
(2018
Q3)
|
San Jose,
CA
|
66.9%
|
2
|
109.9%
|
Salt Lake City,
UT
|
45.0%
|
22
|
44.1%
|
Seattle,
WA
|
44.3%
|
10
|
58.2%
|
San Diego,
CA
|
37.7%
|
7
|
70.2%
|
Ventura County,
CA
|
31.6%
|
6
|
74.5%
|
Oakland,
CA
|
25.9%
|
4
|
84.1%
|
Colorado Springs,
CO
|
21.9%
|
30
|
35.4%
|
Bakersfield,
CA
|
21.4%
|
58
|
14.3%
|
Nashville,
TN
|
21.1%
|
32
|
35.3%
|
Orange County,
CA
|
20.7%
|
3
|
75.9%
|
Affordability Continues to Plague Buyers
While buyers
may start to see signs of relief from an inventory perspective,
affordability continues to be an issue across all home segments.
Nationwide, starter home buyers should expect to pay 25.6 percent
of their income toward a mortgage (up 3.3 percentage points from
22.3 percent a year ago), compared to 24.4 percent for trade-up
buyers (up 2.3 percentage points) and just 21 percent for premium
buyers (up 1.3 percentage points). In an extreme example of income
not keeping up with home values, in San
Jose, the income required to purchase a starter home is
109.9 percent - completely out of reach for most starter home
buyers.
For more information, please check out Trulia's Inventory and
Price Watch Report for a more detailed analysis.
About Trulia
Trulia's mission is to build a more
neighborly world by helping you discover a place you'll love to
live. Homebuyers and renters use Trulia's website and suite of
mobile apps to get a deeper understanding of homes and
neighborhoods across the U.S. through personalized recommendations,
insights sourced straight from locals, and 34 neighborhood map
overlays that offer details on commute, reported crime, schools,
nearby businesses, and more. Founded in 2005, Trulia is based
in San Francisco, and owned and operated by Zillow Group, Inc.
(NASDAQ: Z and ZG). Trulia is a registered trademark of Trulia,
LLC.
For further
information:
pr@trulia.com
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SOURCE Trulia