The housing market has tilted firmly back in favor of sellers, as steady demand met scarce inventory to drive up home values, according to the latest market report from Zillow.
“Buyers are back on the hunt for houses in what is typically the hottest time of year, thanks to a normal seasonal surge in demand around the end of the school year and some help from slightly lower mortgage rates,” said Jeff Tucker, Zillow senior economist. “Unfortunately, many potential sellers have ghosted the market this spring, concentrating buyer demand on the few listings that do come to market and fueling price growth, especially for more affordable and well-presented houses.”
The value of the typical home climbed 1% from March to April, the strongest monthly appreciation since last June and in line with pre-pandemic norms for this time of year. Still, a “normal” springtime sellers season represents a remarkable turnaround from the second half of 2022, which was much cooler than normal as buyers retreated in the face of affordability challenges.
Although still 2.2% below their peak last July, typical home values are 1.5% above last April and stand 38% higher than 2020. Increased competition at lower price points is driving far higher annual appreciation for the least expensive houses.
From hot to not, and back again — local home value trends
The relatively affordable Midwest and Great Lakes regions led the nation in appreciation, harboring the top nine major metros for monthly home value gains. Kansas City home values grew fastest for the second month in a row, followed by Columbus, Detroit, Buffalo and Cincinnati.
Buyers should expect extremely tough competition in these areas — median time to pending for a new listing in Kansas City, Columbus and Cincinnati is just three days.
Home values are down year over year in 22 major markets, most significantly in Austin (-10%), San Francisco (-9.9%), San Jose (-9.5%) and Seattle (-7.5%). But…
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