Seasonally adjusted home sales dropped 3.6 percent in December, according to Redfin. That marked the largest month-over-month sales decline since May 2020. At the same time, home prices soared 15 percent year-over-year, the 17th consecutive month of double-digit increases.
“Home sales are slumping, but not for lack of demand,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “There are plenty of homebuyers on the hunt, but there is just nothing for sale. In many markets, shopping for a home feels like going to the grocery store only to find the shelves bare. In January, I expect to see more buyers and sellers in the market, but demand will increase more than supply, pushing prices higher at the start of this year.”
Median sale prices increased year-over-year in all but one of the 88 largest metro areas Redfin tracks. The only metro area with a decrease was Bridgeport, Conn., where home prices fell 0.4 percent from a year earlier. The largest price increases were in Austin, Texas (+30 percent); North Port, Fla. (+28 percent); and Phoenix (+28 percent).
Home sales fell year-over-year 79 of the 88 metro areas. The biggest sales declines were seen in Nassau County, N.Y. (-22 percent); New Brunswick, N.J. (-22 percent); and Albany, N.Y. (-21 percent). The largest gains were in Greenville, S.C. (+9 percent); Greensboro, N.C. (+8 percent); and Baton Rouge, La. (+7 percent).
Only one of the metros posted a year-over-year increase in the number of seasonally adjusted active listings of homes for sale: Detroit (+4 percent). The biggest year-over-year declines in active housing supply in December were in Baton Rouge, La. (-52 percent); San Jose, Calif. (-49 percent) and San Francisco (-46 percent).
New listings fell from a year ago in 82 of the 88 metros, according to Redfin.
The typical home that sold in December went under contract in 24 days, a week faster than a year earlier, when homes sold in a median 31 days, but up nine days from the record low of 15 days in June.
In December, 43 percent of homes sold above list price, down 14 percentage points from the record high in June, but up 9 percentage points from a year earlier.
The average sale-to-list price ratio in December was 100.5 percent, down from a record high of 102.6 percent in June but up from 99.4 percent a year earlier.