Home value growth is trending up in most large markets, while inventory is trending down, suggesting a more competitive market this winter, according to Zillow’s November market report.
Home values rose 1.2 percent from October and were 19.3 percent higher than they were a year ago, a record high for any 12-month period since 2000. While monthly growth slowed nationally, it accelerated in 30 of the 50 largest metro areas tracked by Zillow.
“Homebuyers angling for a bargain this winter are finding the shelves nearly bare, as inventory has shrunk even faster than in a typical November,” Zillow Senior Economist Jeff Tucker said in a release. “Buyers will find some silver linings to this cloudy winter market, like fewer bidding wars and the typical home lingering longer on the market before the seller accepts an offer. But that’s small comfort to buyers after a year in which prices have risen by almost 20 percent.”
The fastest monthly home value growth was seen in Nashville, Tenn. (2.6 percent), Orlando, Fla. (2.4 percent) and Atlanta (2.3 percent); the slowest was in Milwaukee (0.3 percent), Pittsburgh (0.3 percent), Detroit (0.5 percent), Buffalo, N.Y., (0.5 percent) and Sacramento, Calif. (0.5 percent).
Nationally, the number of for-sale listings is down 6.1 percent from October and 17.5 percent from a year ago, according to the Zillow report. Compared with the pre-pandemic housing market in November 2019, there are 37.8 percent fewer homes on the market. Inventory fell from October in all large metros for which data is available.
Over the next 12 months, Zillow expects home values to rise 14.3 percent, which would be a significant slowdown, but also would be the highest annual growth in Zillow’s records before June. Existing home sales are expected to end 2021 at 6.13 million — 8.6 percent higher than 2020 — and rise to more than 6.5 million next year.
Homes lasted one day longer on the market than they did in October. The typical home went pending after 12 days in November, compared with 11 the month before.