search

The Real Deal Logo

Trending

Housing deal finally passes; here are the detailsHousing deal finally passes; here are the detailsHow Hochul played the “good cause eviction” game, and wonHow Hochul played the “good cause eviction” game, and wonYellowstone drops approximately $200M on 1740 Broadway debtYellowstone drops approximately $200M on 1740 Broadway debt“I wouldn’t use it, I would just lock the door”: Landlords pan new rehab law“I wouldn’t use it, I would just lock the door”: Landlords pan new rehab law
Residential
New York

Buyers, don’t blink: More U.S. homes selling in one week

Median rate of sales at lowest point in 32 years

Homes are selling at a the fastest rate we've seen since 1989 (Getty)
Homes are selling at a the fastest rate we've seen since 1989 (Getty)

Prospective home buyers in the U.S. are facing record-low times to weigh one of the most important investments in their lives.

A survey from the National Association of Realtors says home sales in the last year counted a median listing time of one week before going under contract, the Wall Street Journal reported. The rate — recorded for home sales between July 2020 and June 2021 — was the quickest since 1989.

In the same period the previous year, the median time homes spent on the market was three weeks, meaning the process has tripled in speed over one year. Since 2002, the longest median time a home spent on the market before entering into contract was 11 weeks, recorded between July 2011 and June 2012.

The quick rate of home sales is leading buyers to give up safeguards in an effort to get a bid accepted before someone else can swoop in, the Journal reports. Contract termination rights are among those flying out the window to speed purchases along.

The quick buying and selling rates are also running up against a spike in home prices. NAR reports the median sales price during the year it tracked was 100 percent of the listing price, the highest since at least 2002; typically, the sales price is slightly below the listing.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Read more

According to NAR, the median sales price from the year it tracked was $305,000. The previous year, it was $272,500.

A previous survey by the National Association of Home Builders showed how one of the hottest housing markets in recent memory is affecting those actively searching for a new home.

The survey, published in September, said almost two-thirds of house hunters are stuck looking for at least three months. Almost 45 percent of those struggling to buy a home claim they keep getting outbid by other buyers, according to the Journal.

[WSJ] — Holden Walter-Warner

Tags
Housing MarketNational Association Of Realtors