Low Home Inventory Still Driving Prices Higher

Low Home Inventory Still Driving Prices Higher

Low home inventory continues to drive up prices in the real estate market this spring. The median home listing price in March reached $280,000, a 2% increase since February and an 8% year-over-year increase, according to the latest figures from realtor.com.

“Never in history have more eyes been on fewer homes,” stated realtor.com’s director of economic research, Javier Vivas, in his blog on March housing trends. By summer, he said that more than half the homes on the market will be above $300k.

Home Inventory Low Where Demand Is Highest

The problem is that more than half of potential buyers are looking for homes under $200,000, and by summer less than one in three homes are expected to fall in this price range. There is also a shortage of homes on the market is in the $200k to $350k price range, while the number of new listings that are above $350,000 is reported to be “healthy.”

There is also a large home inventory for properties above $1 million, with one in every dozen listings expected to be in this range by summer. This translates to a better market for buyers in the luxury homes market, but not so much for those looking for starter homes.

DC Prices Remain Stable Despite Low Home Inventory

Like many other markets, home inventory in the nation’s capital is very tight right now. The number of homes on the market were down by 13% this February compared to February 2017, for example.

However, despite the low inventory, according to a recent article in the Washington Post, prices are still going up at a slower rate in Washington than in the nation as a whole. In February, for example, home prices in D.C. rose by 2.6% year-over-year, while they were up 5.9% nationally.

Buyers in D.C. are also starting to push back where they feel prices have increased to unrealistic levels. “Buyers are turned off by aggressive pricing, and we’re seeing properties priced too high languish on the market,” one realtor told the Post.

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