According to a report done by Redfin, the average home sold in November spent just 27 days on the market, the lowest since at least 2012, when Redfin started tracking such data. Meanwhile, 35 percent of the homes sold went above the list price, which is a new high for the month of November.
The national median home price rose 14 percent from November 2019 to $335,519.
The report lists multiple reasons for this surge: people want to buy houses, people do not want to list houses and a record low interest rates.
“Neither the election nor the Thanksgiving holiday weekend curbed homebuyers’ appetite in November,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather in a press release.
Home sales were up 23 percent, and pending sales increased 37 percent from Nov. 2019. Fairweather offered some anecdotal analysis on why November saw such urgency.
“I personally bought a home last month because I knew if I didn't seal the deal by then, I would have to wait until January for more new listings to hit the market to find one that checked all of my boxes,” Fairweather said. “Plus, there is no guarantee mortgage rates will stay this low for much longer. And like most buyers this time of year, once I had it in my head that it was time to move, I wanted to be settled in my new home in time for the holidays.”
New listings only increased by 8 percent year-over-year. Overall, the homes for sale across the country in November were down 23 percent from one year ago. November marked a 16th straight month of declines.
Only two of the 85 metro areas Redfin tacks saw an increase in the amount of listings since Nov. 2019: New York City and San Francisco. The largest declines in active housing supply year-over-year in November were in Kansas City, Mo. and Salt Lake City.