3rd Look at Local Housing Markets in December

Local reports suggest Year-over-year decline in NAR reported sales will be Similar to November

This is the third look at local markets in December. I’m tracking about 40 local housing markets in the US. Some of the 40 markets are states, and some are metropolitan areas. I’ll update these tables throughout the month as additional data is released.

Closed sales in December were mostly for contracts signed in October and November. Since 30-year fixed mortgage rates were over 7% for most of October (no points) and averaged 6.8% in November (Freddie PMMS with points) closed sales were probably impacted significantly in December.

From the Houston Association of REALTORS®: The Economic Headwinds of 2022 Bring Houston’s Home Sales Hot Streak to an End

For the month of December, single-family home sales dropped 32.6 percent. That marks the ninth straight monthly decline of 2022 and the steepest. … The median price of a single-family home – the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less – was $330,000 in December. That is the third straight month it has held at that level and is 3.8 percent higher than last December.

emphasis added

Active Inventory in December

Here is a summary of active listings for these housing markets in December.

Inventory in these markets were down 30% YoY in January 2022 and are now up 76% YoY! So, this is a significant change from early in 2022, and about the same YoY inventory increase as in November (up 72% YoY).

Notes for all tables:

1. New additions to table in BOLD.

2. Northwest (Seattle), Santa Clara (San Jose), Jacksonville, Source: Northeast Florida Association of REALTORS®

3. Totals do not include Atlanta, or Denver (included in state totals)

   

New Listings in December

And here is a table for new listings in December. For these areas, new listings were down 21.4% YoY. Potential sellers that are locked into their current homes with low mortgage rates has pushed down new listings.

Last month, new listings in these markets were down 18.0% YoY.