Contract Volume, New Listings Down, While Days on Market Up

HouseCanary has released its latest Market Pulse Report covering the year between March 2022 and March 2023 using a litany of listing-derived metrics derived from their nationwide platform. 

According to HouseCanary, a year of continuous rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and the waves from three bank failures, market activity in terms of contract volume and net new listing volume remains sharply down year-over-year. In addition, the numbers posted by net new listings lags behind contract volume, further hurting inventory numbers. 

April marks the start of the second quarter of 2023, and real estate market growth is depended on whether the Federal Reserve continues to raise rates to fight inflation and consumer confidence after three major bank failures which can affect future numbers by reducing demand from would-be home buyers. 

Jeremy Sicklick, Co-Founder and CEO of HouseCanary, commented: 

“The collapse of three banks in March coupled with additional rate hikes from the Fed could have significant implications for mortgage rates heading into the spring buying season. Our latest data indicates that one year of rate hikes has already had significant impacts on housing market activity, with both net new listing volume and contract volume sharply down year-over-year. However, prices appeared to stabilize in March and there was a rise in single-family prices across many markets, which both suggest that the market was beginning to adjust to continuous rate hikes. Consumer fears of additional issues in our financial system could have an adverse impact in the months to come.” 

Key takeaways as highlighted by HouseCanary include: 

• For the month of March 2023, 193,286 net new listings were placed on the market, and 266,823 properties went under contract. This represents a decrease of 42.0% and 19.5%, respectively, versus March 2022. 
• The decrease in net new listings was driven by a 33.1% decrease in new listing volume as well as a 56.8% increase in removals compared to March 2022. 
• Median days on market stood at 37, up 54.2% from the prior year at 24 days on market. Days on the market decreased by 14.0% on a month-over-month basis. 
• The sale-to-list-price ratio stands at 98.2%, which is above the lowest value observed in January 2023 and trending further upward. 
• Price cuts are up 132.7% year-over-year but are down nearly 62.7% from their recent peaks occurring in September and October 2022. 
• Total single-family rental inventory is up 64.7% from the same period in 2022, and up 110.5% from 2021.