Press release

HouseCanary Market Pulse Monitors U.S. Home Sales and Listing Activity Since the Start of the Coronavirus Pandemic

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Home valuation fintech pioneer HouseCanary today announced the continued review of states with sufficient property listing and transaction volume in the HouseCanary platform for 45 states and the District of Columbia. This issue of Market Pulse compares data between the week ending May 8, 2020, and the week ending March 13, 2020, detailing 22 listing-derived metrics.

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U.S. Map: Week-over-week Change in Median Price of New Listings for Week Ending May 8, 2020 (Graphic: Business Wire)

U.S. Map: Week-over-week Change in Median Price of New Listings for Week Ending May 8, 2020 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Nationwide new listing volume was down 25.8% nationwide compared to the week ending March 13, when most COVID-19 measures were implemented. Although, weekly new listing volume is up 17.4% from its lowest level which occurred during the week ending April 17. Nationwide weekly new listing volume has been increasing each week since that time.

For the week ending May 8, weekly volume of listings going into contract for single-family detached homes was down 5.2% nationwide compared to the week ending March 13, when most COVID-19 measures were implemented. Weekly volume of listings going into contract is up 46.2% from its lowest level, which occurred during the week ending April 10. Of note, nationwide weekly contract volume has been increasing each week since April 10, indicating buyers are finding ways to complete transactions while practicing social distancing.

During the week ending March 13, there was an early spike in properties being removed from the market. That trend reversed for the subsequent three weeks. Since the week of April 5 removals have settled back down to pre COVID-19 levels.

The total nationwide available inventory of single-family detached homes was down by 4.7% compared to the week ending March 13, when most COVID-19 measures were implemented, and has remained relatively constant over the past six weeks. Tight supply has helped stabilize prices in many markets through the weeks following March 6. For example, since the week ending March 6 through current, there are 86,234 fewer properties in total supply than prior to the beginning of COVID-19 stay at home measures. Thirty-four of forty-six states have shown increasing demand for properties under contract that exceeds the net supply. If this trend continues, it will put increasing pressure on real estate values.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic housing prices continued to rise in most markets. Using a 3-week moving average of the median price of new listings, two-thirds of the states reviewed saw a rise in median housing prices for newly listed properties as the historically strong spring buying season continues. Detailed analysis of median prices for new listings, by state, is illustrated in the heat map below.

Over the week ending May 8, 32 of the 46 states have seen an uptick in the median list price of new listings, while 14 states have shown price declines. Hawaii, New York, Florida, Connecticut, and California have shown the strongest price gains. West Virginia, New Jersey, DC, North Dakota, and Idaho have all shown the largest declines in new listing prices.

“HouseCanary continues to monitor changes in home sales and listing activity since the COVID-19 stay-home and shelter-in-place measures were implemented across the country,” said Jeremy Sicklick, Co-Founder and CEO of HouseCanary. “While tight supply has been an issue for quite some time, the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus has exacerbated the situation. Buyers still want to buy, but sellers are reluctant to put their homes on the market during the uncertainty.”

As a nationwide real estate broker, HouseCanary’s broad multiple listing service (MLS) participation allows us to evaluate listing data and aggregate the number of new listings, as well as the number of new listings going into contract for all single-family detached homes observed in the HouseCanary database. Using this data, HouseCanary continues to track listing volume, new listings, and median list price for 46 states and 48 individual MSAs.

HouseCanary will continue to monitor these and other economic indicators for the U.S. housing market and local markets on a weekly basis and report results to the news media. HouseCanary is committed to sharing trusted, real-time information given how quickly the housing markets are evolving. For more information about the data that HouseCanary is following, please visit www.housecanary.com.

About HouseCanary:

Founded in 2013, valuation-focused real estate brokerage HouseCanary provides software and services to reshape the real estate marketplace. Financial institutions, investors, lenders, mortgage investors, and consumers turn to HouseCanary for industry-leading valuations, forecasts, and transaction-support tools. These clients trust HouseCanary to fuel acquisition, underwriting, portfolio management, and more. Learn more at www.housecanary.com.