SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Trulia®, a
leading destination for homebuyers and renters, today released
the findings from the Trulia Inventory and Price Watch. This
quarter's report found that the number of homes for the average
first-time homebuyer saw its steepest year-over-year drop in three
years, falling 12.1% since 2015. Moreover, these buyers will need
to pay 1.9% more of their income on average to buy a starter-home
in their local market.
U.S. Housing Inventory Shrinks 9.1%
Year-Over-Year
Nationally, housing inventory fell for the
sixth consecutive quarter, dropping 9.1% from a year ago. Across
different housing segments, home buyers saw the biggest decreases
in starter and trade-up home inventory. The number of starter homes
and trade-up homes on the market dropped 12.1% and 12.9% from this
time last year, respectively. Meanwhile, premium home inventory
fell a more moderate 5.6%.
|
2016 Q4 National Inventory Monitor
|
|
Housing
Segment
|
2016 Q4
Inventory
|
Change, 2015 Q4 - 2016
Q4
|
|
Median
List Price
|
Share
|
Inventory
|
% of Income Needed
to Buy Median Price Home in
Segment
|
% Change in
Median List Price
|
Percentage
Point Change in Share
|
% Change in
Inventory
|
Additional Share of
IncomeNeeded to Buy a
Home
(Percentage-Point Change)
|
|
Starter
|
$164,920
|
24.8%
|
293,059
|
38.5%
|
7.6%
|
-0.1 pts
|
-12.1%
|
1.9 pts
|
|
Trade-Up
|
$285,895
|
24.0%
|
283,165
|
25.5%
|
6.3%
|
-1.2 pts
|
-12.9%
|
0.9 pts
|
|
Premium
|
$591,262
|
51.1%
|
594,375
|
13.9%
|
7.2%
|
+1.2 pts
|
-5.6%
|
0.5 pts
|
|
Among the 100
largest U.S. metro areas. Share is the percent of for-sale homes
that fall into each segment, which is defined separately for each
metro. Median price for each segment is the stock-weighted average
of the median price of each segment in each metro. Some point
change estimates may be slightly different than stated values
because our differing procedure occurs before
rounding.
|
Harder to Get Started for First-Time Home Buyers
Declines in the affordability of starter homes continues to plague
first-time home buyers. Today, the average starter-home buyer will
need to spend 38.5% of their monthly income to buy a starter home –
a 1.9 percentage point increase from last year. This decline in
affordability is more than twice as much for trade-up homes (up 0.9
percentage points) and nearly four times the amount needed to buy a
premium home (up 0.5 percentage points). Comparatively, buyers of
trade-up homes and premium homes would each need to spend just
25.5% and 13.9% of their income to buy a home, respectively.
Starter Home Crunch Squeezes Coastal Markets
In many
coastal housing markets, affordability has eroded significantly
over the last year, especially in Tacoma, Wash. and Portland, Ore. But in Sacramento, Calif., Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Miami, starter home unaffordability
continues to be a persistent problem. Among the 100 largest U.S.
metros, these metros ranked in the top 10 annual declines in
affordability for starter homes from 2012 to 2015 and remain in the
top 10 for declines in affordability for starter homes from 2015 to
2016.
|
Housing Markets
with Largest Decrease in Starter Home Affordability 2016 vs
2015
|
|
U.S. Metro
|
Additional Share of
Income Needed to Buy Starter Home in 2015 Q4 vs. 2012 Q4 (Annual
Average Percent Change)
|
2015 vs. 2012 Change
Rank
|
Additional Share of
Income Needed to Buy Starter Home in 2016 Q4 vs. 2015 Q4
|
2016 vs. 2015 Change
Rank
|
|
Tacoma, WA
|
2.5%
|
19
|
7.7%
|
1
|
|
Portland,
OR-WA
|
3.5%
|
14
|
6.9%
|
2
|
|
Miami, FL
|
4.9%
|
10
|
6.5%
|
3
|
|
North
Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
|
1.5%
|
31
|
6.1%
|
4
|
|
San Francisco,
CA
|
6.0%
|
7
|
5.7%
|
5
|
|
Sacramento,
CA
|
7.0%
|
5
|
5.7%
|
6
|
|
San Diego,
CA
|
7.6%
|
3
|
5.6%
|
7
|
|
Los Angeles,
CA
|
7.0%
|
6
|
5.4%
|
8
|
|
West Palm Beach,
FL
|
2.7%
|
17
|
5.1%
|
9
|
|
Denver, CO
|
2.7%
|
18
|
5.0%
|
10
|
|
NOTE: Among 100
largest U.S. metros. Full data set available
here.
|
QUOTES FROM TRULIA'S CHIEF ECONOMIST RALPH MCLAUGHLIN:
- "Tight inventory will still be a big obstacle to homeownership
in many markets in 2017, but I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll
see the bottom of the current housing shortage as the year
progresses. That said, buyers might not see price relief if
President-Elect Trump's to-be-seen policies boost demand without
boosting supply."
- "As mortgage rates continue to trend upwards, homebuyers in the
costly coastal housing markets in California and the Northeast may get some
relief. Rising rates will likely cool the fierce competition in
these markets where inventory has been tightening and affordability
has worsened."
About the Trulia Inventory and Price Watch
The Trulia
Inventory and Price Watch offers buyers and sellers deeper insight
into the change in supply and affordability of homes over the past
year, within three different segments of the market: starter homes,
trade-up homes, and premium homes. Based on the for-sale homes
listed on Trulia, this report calculates housing inventory within
each segment nationally and in the 100 largest U.S. metros, from
Dec. 1, 2015 to Dec. 1, 2016. For the full report and
methodology, see here.
About Trulia
Trulia® is a vibrant home shopping
marketplace, focused on giving homebuyers, sellers, and renters the
information they need to make better decisions. On mobile and the
Web, Trulia provides house hunters with insights and unique
information about properties, neighborhoods, and real estate
agents. Additionally, Trulia offers data and information about
schools, crimes, commute times, and the real estate market.
Launched in 2005, Trulia is based in San Francisco and is owned and operated by
Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z and ZG).
Trulia is a registered trademark of Trulia, LLC.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Daisy
Kong
pr@trulia.com
415-400-7391
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-time-homebuyers-face-worsening-starter-home-shortage-heading-into-2017-reports-trulia-300377759.html
SOURCE Trulia