Prices of all goods, services and real estate are reached in a market dynamic of supply and demand. Today we will focus on the supply of housing for sale.
The supply of homes on the market is well proxied by the number of listings available for sale on the multiple listing services in the country. Fortunately, each month Realltor.com tabulates listing and asking prices for the U.S. and 146 separate markets across the country.
In the U.S., the number of listings declined 5.24 percent in July 2013 when compared to July 2012. The total number of listings on the market at the end of July 2013 was 1.959 million. The median listing price was up 5.27 percent to $199,900. In contrast, the median sales price of existing homes in June 2013 (the latest data available) was $214,200. Since the median list price is less than the median sales price, this would indicate that more higher-end homes are selling at this time.
The number of listings on the market in July 2013 when compared to July 2012 was up in just 29 of the 146 markets (20 percent), while the median listing price was up in 108 out of the 146 markets (74 percent).
So where are listing prices the greatest across the country? And the least? The following tables show the most expensive housing markets based on asking price, and also the 10 markets with the lowest current median listing price. Eight of the top-10 are in California, with Honolulu and Washington, D.C. rounding out the list. On the lower asking price list, eight of 10 are in the Midwest, with Ocala. Florida, and Macon, Georgia rounding out the 10.
And where have listings increased and declined the most? The following show the top-10 markets with the greatest decline and largest increase in listings from July 2012 to July 2013.
Want to see how your market stacks up? To view the entire realtor.com listing summary click http://www.realtor.com/data-portal/Real-Estate-Statistics.aspx
Ted