To find out the state of the housing market in one's area, one need only look at how many homes are springing. up on Zillow (ZG) or Realtor.com.
While nothing stays up for long in particularly "hot" markets, a lack of movement and new properties coming up on listing platforms can also indicate stagnation or a town that few people want to live in.
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According to the latest data from Realtor.com, the situation is most dire in California's San Jose — already known for its unaffordable real estate (a median home in the metro region costs $1.5 million), the number of properties on the market also fell 35.3% between May 2023 and 2022.
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The phenomenon is largely due to homeowners not wanting to list their homes in the hopes of seeing property values grow further. A large section of buyers is, in turn, also priced out from many of the listings and not feeding market movement.
"I see a lot of investors holding back," local Realtor Tuan Tran told Realtor.com. "Inflation is still high. Paychecks haven't gotten much bigger."
Florida's Sarasota, in turn, is the city with the biggest increase of home listings hitting the market. Between May 2022 and 2023, there's been an 128.1% increase in for-sale properties. The median listing price is a much more affordable (at least by San Jose standards) $549,900 but still expensive compared to the rest of Florida.
The high inventory has to do with overall oversaturation of the real estate market. All of Florida has seen a spike in people moving there during the covid-19 pandemic and, as restrictions lifted, the market started to catch up to actual demand.
"Too many sellers are pricing their homes as if the market were still as hot as it was a year or two ago," Realtor.com writes, paraphrasing local agent Carissa Pelczynski.
'No List of Real Estate Superlatives Is Complete Without Austin'
Other cities with high numbers of new homes hitting the market include Nashville, Tenn., and Austin, Texas. Both saw a disproportionate number of new residents that is now starting to even out to match the cities' actual demographic and economic potential.
Home inventory is up a respective 124.7% and 112.5% in each city.
"It seems no list of real estate superlatives is complete without Austin," writes Realtor.com. "The Lone Star State's capital city had become one of the hottest markets in the country during the pandemic, with demand -- and as a result, prices-- exploding. Builders raced to put up homes in the area. But when mortgage rates rose in 2022, the Austin market was one that cooled the most, with list prices falling 15% from May 2022 to January of this year."
Connecticut's Hartford and Milwaukee are, meanwhile, the urban centers resisting this "evening out" — the number of homes on the market is down a respective 26% and 23.4% as priced-out buyers look for more affordable solutions.
"The housing markets in many traditionally affordable, Midwestern cities, like Milwaukee, have continued to chug along, while other pricier markets have sputtered or stalled," writes Realtor.com
SEE THE FULL LIST OF CITIES WHERE INVENTORY IS FALLING AND RISING HERE.
