Those in the market seeking an affordable house will be hard-pressed to find anything in their budget as low inventory continues to push prices skyward.
According to HouseCanary [1], a real estate valuation brokerage whose team of economists regularly researches and reports industry trends, there were 287,468 new listings added to the market in September, a 14% decrease since September 2020. Over the past year however, listings as a whole are up 9.9% with 3,201,229 listings being added to the market.
When broken into price tiers, the $0-$200,000 segment accounted for 18% of new listings. The $200,000-$400,000 segment accounted for 41.3% of listings, the $400,000-$600,000 tier accounted for 20.8% of listings, the $600,000-$1M was 13.3%, while homes over $1 million represented 6.6% of listings.
It should not be surprising that as home prices trend upward, listings of cheaper homes also drops off. Over the last year, homes in the $0-$200,000 segment have dropped by 17.2% while homes in the other segments have increased. The percent of listed homes in the $200,000-$400,000 rose by 1.2%, homes in the $400,000-$600,000 rose by 34%, while homes in the $600,000-$1M and $1M+ rose by 53.1% and 55.9% respectively. 
“The record growth in home prices over the past year driven by short supply has made homeownership less affordable for many Americans, especially for would-be first-time homebuyers and those searching for homes under $200,000,” said Jeremy Sicklick [2], Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HouseCanary. “It’s also worth noting that mortgage rates have increased recently, topping 3% for the first time since early July. Higher borrowing rates, in tandem with lofty prices, could potentially limit the demand for new homes and refinances.”
“Now that we are exiting the peak summer market season, median prices – while still near record highs – are beginning to cool off, especially with the holiday season right around the corner,” Sicklick continued. “We continue to see prospective buyers making above-list price offers on homes given the ultra-competitive market environment and if the supply shortage holds through the winter, we could expect to see additional rapid price growth in spring 2022, but at a lower rate compared to 2021."
The full Market Pulse [3] report is available at housecanary.com. Below are other key takeaways:
- In September, the median price of all single-family listings in the US was $383,800 and the median closed price was $383,878. On a year-over-year basis, the median price of all single-family listings is up 7.5% and the median price of closed listings is up 13.9%.
- For the week ending October 1st 2021, the median price-per-square-foot of all listed single-family homes in the US sits at $201.9 and the median closed price was $208.7. On a year-over-year basis, the median price of all listed single-family homes is up 12.2% and the median price of closed listings is up 18.4%.
- For the week ending October 1st 2021, the sale-to-list-price ratio stood at 100.3, indicating continued competition among buyers who are making offers in excess of list-price in order to lock in one of the limited homes for sale. This number peaked in June and has been falling since.