{"id":65075,"date":"2019-02-19T04:45:34","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T12:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redfindevelop.wpengine.com\/blog\/?p=65075"},"modified":"2020-10-06T12:59:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T19:59:43","slug":"january-2019-housing-market-tracker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/news\/january-2019-housing-market-tracker\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Price Growth Edged Up Nationally in January While the West Coast Began Seeing Red"},"content":{"rendered":"

Homebuyers are in the strongest position in years as the supply of homes for sale grows at fastest rate since May 2015<\/h2>\n

The housing market started off 2019 with buyers in a much better position than they were a year earlier. U.S. home-sale prices increased 2.9 percent in January compared to a year ago, to a median of $285,900 across the metros Redfin tracks. Albeit slight, last month\u2019s price jump represents a rebound from December\u2019s 1.5 percent increase, the smallest year-over-year price increase recorded since March 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Market Summary<\/th>\nJanuary 2019<\/th>\nMonth-Over-Month<\/th>\nYear-Over-Year<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Median sale price<\/td>\n$285,900<\/td>\n-2.1%<\/td>\n2.9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Homes sold<\/td>\n179,500<\/td>\n-15.5%<\/td>\n-7.6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New listings<\/td>\n270,800<\/td>\n68.3%<\/td>\n4.4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
All Homes for sale<\/td>\n748,100<\/td>\n1.1%<\/td>\n6.3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Median days on market<\/td>\n57<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Months of supply<\/td>\n4.2<\/td>\n0.7<\/td>\n0.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sold above list<\/td>\n16.7%<\/td>\n-1.4%<\/td>\n-3.5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Median Off-Market Redfin Estimate<\/td>\n$298,800<\/td>\n5.6%<\/td>\n6.3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Average Sale-to-list<\/td>\n97.3%<\/td>\n-0.3%<\/td>\n-0.4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

\u201cThings are looking good for buyers in 2019. The supply of homes for sale is increasing faster than it has in nearly four years,\u201d said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. \u201cDecember was a rough month for home sales<\/a>, but homeowners appear to be undeterred in the new year as more are listing their homes for sale. We predicted price growth would slow down and that prices would drop in coastal cities like San Francisco and Seattle<\/a>, but we didn\u2019t know how sellers would react to a cooler market. It\u2019s encouraging to see that listings are up–it means that sellers aren\u2019t taking the ball and going home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Year-Over-Year Price Growth Edged Up Slightly in January<\/figure>\n

Home prices fell year over year in 10 of the 81 largest metro areas Redfin tracks, including San Francisco<\/a> (-5.0%) and Portland, Oregon<\/a> (-1.3%). This is a major shift for two markets that consistently posted strong price growth throughout most of 2018 and where prices haven\u2019t declined significantly since 2012. In Seattle, prices were still growing last month, but barely, up just 0.6 percent year over year, and seem to be following a similar trajectory as their West Coast counterparts.<\/p>\n

West Coast Price Growth Weakening<\/figure>\n

Completed home sales nationally fell for the sixth consecutive month in January, down 7.6 percent from a year earlier. Home sales declined in 57 of the 81 largest metro areas that Redfin tracks.
\nThe number of homes newly listed for sale in January rose from a year earlier (+4.4%), helping to push the total number of homes for sale up 6.3 percent, the biggest supply increase since May of 2015.
\n\u201cWe expect the supply of homes for sale to increase, giving buyers more homes to buy, but not so many that prices drop broadly,\u201d said CEO Glenn Kelman during Redfin\u2019s earnings call last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Year-Over-Year Growth in Homes for Sale Hit a 44-Month High in January<\/figure>\n

Of the 81 largest metro areas Redfin tracks, 54 saw an increase in the number of homes for sale compared to a year earlier, with the largest gains coming in Seattle<\/a> (+109.1%) and San Jose<\/a> (+100.8%). Despite these large increases in for-sale inventory, both markets still had less than three months of supply (inventory divided by monthly sales\u20142.3 in Seattle and 2.5 in San Jose), keeping them in seller\u2019s market territory last month. A market that is balanced between buyers and sellers typically has between four and six months of supply.
\nThe metro areas with the biggest decline in homes for sale were New Orleans<\/a> (-25.5%), Rochester, NY<\/a> (-22.2%) and Camden, NJ<\/a> (-18.6%).
\nSeveral indicators of home-buying competition suggest that 2019 kicked off as one of the tamest in years. Home-selling speeds, which reached a record-fast median pace of 35 days on market last May, slowed last month for the first time since July 2015. The typical home that sold in January went under contract in a median of 57 days, one day longer than a year earlier. In January, 16.7 percent of homes sold above the list price, down from 20.2 percent in January 2018, and the smallest share recorded in four years. Meanwhile 23.2 percent of homes on the market in January had a price drop, up from January 2018\u2019s share of 18.9 percent. The share of homes that went under contract within two weeks dipped to 13.3 percent in January, down from the January 2018 level of 16.1 percent.<\/p>\n

Other January Highlights<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Competition<\/strong><\/p>\n