September Housing Numbers Show Inventory Improvements

In a market as hot as Dallas, any improvement is welcome when it comes to some breathing room in housing inventory — but did the local real estate market follow national trends in September?

New national housing data shows inventory hit a 2021 high in September, giving buyers more choices than they have had all year, according to the Realtor.com Monthly Housing Report released Sept. 30. Nearly one-third of the 50 largest metros continued to see increases in newly-listed homes compared to last year.

“Put simply, this September buyers had more options than they’ve had all year and while that’s typical of early fall, that’s not what happened in 2020. Still, it’s important to remember that while buyers may have an easier time this fall than they did in the spring, the market remains more competitive than it has been historically at this time of year,” said Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “There are fewer homes for sale than last year and less than half as many as two years ago; homes are also selling a lot faster. With new listings in September dipping below last year for the first time in 5 months, next month’s data will yield important clues about whether this setback is going to be temporary or a new trend.”

The U.S. supply of for-sale homes reached a new 2021 high in September, as buyers continued to see steady improvement in the number of active listings compared to earlier this year, the typical seasonal pattern that was notably missing in 2020.

Nationally, active listings reached a new year high of 646,053 for-sale homes in September. U.S. housing inventory declined 22.2% year-over-year in September, an improvement over August (-25.8%), but is still less than half (-52.5%) of typical 2017-2019 levels.

The U.S. median home price held at last month’s near record-high of $380,000 and grew at the same annual rate (+8.6%) in September, and was up 20.6% from 2019.

The typical U.S. home spent 43 days on the market in September, an increase over the record-fast pace seen in June (37 days), but home sales were still faster than in 2020 (-11 days) and 2019 (-22 days).

Homes sold at a faster pace than the national median in the 50 largest metros in September (37 days), on average, but the gap from last year is shrinking more quickly (-7 days).