SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today,
Trulia®, a home and neighborhood resource for homebuyers
and renters, released the findings from the Trulia Inventory
and Price Watch. This quarterly look at the supply of starter,
trade-up and premium homes on the market nationally and in the 100
largest U.S. metros found that starter homebuyers should accelerate
their house-hunting plans now as for-sale inventory increases and
listing prices decrease in the fall and winter months.
Starter Homebuyers, Begin House Hunting and Go West
Starter homebuyers should ignore
conventional wisdom about the spring home-buying season.
Starter-home inventory peaks in October and actually rises
7% in fall months, compared to the spring. Regionally, the
strongest season for starter homes in 70 of the top 100 housing
markets is between October and December. That leads to listing
prices that are about 4.8% and 3.1% lower in the winter and spring
than in the summer, respectively.
Homebuyers in the West should especially pick up their house
hunting efforts as seven of the top 10 metros have the largest
inventory and price swings are in California, Colorado, Oregon and Arizona. San
Jose leads the pack with a 42% seasonal difference, on
average, between its fourth quarter peak and first quarter low
point in the number of starter homes on the market. For discounts,
Wichita, Kan., offers the biggest
savings. Listing prices there are 18.6%, on average, from its first
quarter low point to its second quarter peak.
Where and When
Starter Homes Hit the Market
|
Metros with Largest
Seasonal Difference, Inventory
|
Metros with Largest
Seasonal Difference, Listing Prices
|
U.S. Metro
|
Seasonal Difference
Between Non-Peak and Peak
|
Min (Max) Listing Count
Quarter
|
U.S. Metro
|
Seasonal Difference
Between Non-Peak and Peak
|
Min (Max) Listing Price
Quarter
|
San Jose,
CA
|
-42.0%
|
1 (4)
|
Wichita, KS
|
-18.6%
|
1 (2)
|
Colorado Springs,
CO
|
-34.7%
|
2 (4)
|
Seattle, WA
|
-12.1%
|
1 (3)
|
Portland,
OR
|
-34.7%
|
2 (4)
|
San Jose, CA
|
-11.2%
|
1 (3)
|
San Francisco,
CA
|
-33.7%
|
1 (4)
|
Oakland, CA
|
-10.4%
|
1 (3)
|
Phoenix,
AZ
|
-32.8%
|
3 (1)
|
Denver, CO
|
-9.3%
|
1 (3)
|
NOTE: Among the 100 largest
U.S. metro areas. Full data set available for download
here.
|
Starter Home Inventory Falls More than 20% in the
Summer
The number of starter and trade-up homes on the
market declined 20.4% and 12.5% respectively, from the same period
a year ago. But for premium homebuyers, the inventory picture
wasn't as bleak—their segment declined 2.3% year-over-year. These
drops follow the national trend, as inventory tumbled 9.1%
year-over-year, marking the 10th straight quarter of
inventory declines.
Starter and Trade-Up Homes Become Even More
Unaffordable
For homebuyers seeking affordable homes,
premium homebuyers only needed to spend 14.2% of their income,
which was just a 0.7 percentage-point year-over-year increase.
Meanwhile starter homebuyers and trade-up homebuyers were again hit
hard. Starter homebuyers needed to shell out 39.7% of their monthly
income to buy a typical starter home – up from 31% in the first
quarter of 2013-- while trade-up homebuyers followed with 26% of
their income needed to purchase a home in that segment.
2017 Q3 National
Inventory and Price Watch
|
Housing
Segment
|
2017 Q3
Inventory
|
Change, 2016 Q3 - 2017
Q3
|
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
Income Needed to Buy a Home
(Percentage-Point Change)
|
Starter
|
$171,624
|
20.5%
|
236,942
|
39.7%
|
6.5%
|
-2.5 pts
|
-20.4%
|
+2.3 pts
|
Trade-Up
|
$294,150
|
23.5%
|
268,187
|
26.0%
|
4.8%
|
-0.5 pts
|
-12.5%
|
+1.2 pts
|
Premium
|
$615,929
|
55.9%
|
635,783
|
14.2%
|
6.2%
|
+3.0 pts
|
-2.3%
|
+0.7 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. The full data set can be
downloaded here.
|
QUOTES FROM TRULIA'S SENIOR ECONOMIST CHERYL YOUNG:
"Starter homebuyers should begin looking now. The fall season
provides a great opportunity for finding the right home and
neighborhood thanks to a bump in homes for sale on the market,
followed by lower winter prices."
"Housing markets along the West Coast have long been plagued by
tight inventory and worsening affordability. But it's not
completely hopeless for would-be homeowners. The seasonal swings in
listings and prices in the San Francisco
Bay Area, Portland, Ore.,
and even Phoenix means buyers will
likely find more homes for sale at a lower price in the fall and
winter months."
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
July 1 to September 1, 2017. 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, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z and ZG).
Trulia is a registered trademark of Trulia, LLC.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Debbie
Baratz
415-757-2299
pr@trulia.com
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SOURCE Trulia