Realtor.com: Active Listings Grew in December
Florida saw strong listing growth in December with Miami, Tampa and Orlando leading, giving buyers more options and time to explore.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — December 2024 saw a 22.0% growth in homes actively for sale compared with the same time last year nationally, according to the December Monthly Housing Trends Report from Realtor.com.
Miami (45.4%), San Diego (42.4%) and Denver (41.9%) led the way with the highest active listing growth year over year amongst the top 50 metros in the U.S.
"December is traditionally a slower time for the market, as people settle in for the holidays, and we expect to see a seasonal downturn each year. Compounding this, mortgage rates are hovering in the high 6s, following a strikingly different trend than at this time last year," said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist. "Nevertheless, the number of homes for sale grew compared to last December. Further, growing activity in newly listed homes and a slower market pace could spell opportunity for winter buyers who want to get ahead of the busier spring season."
December 2024 Housing Metrics – National
A slow, but improved, December as inventory ticks up
While homes actively for sale grew for the 14th straight month in December, the year-over-year growth of 22.0% was slightly lower than November's year-over-year growth, which was 26.2%. That being said, inventory is still inching its way back to 2017-2019 levels. Seller activity stalled in December, as newly listed homes were 0.9% above last year's levels, a decrease from November's rise of 2.0%, due in part to the Christmas holiday. Furthermore, in December, inventory sat 15.7% below pre-pandemic levels, which was a large decrease from the previous month's 21.5% gap.
December days on market hits 2024 high
Homes sat on the market for longer this December, compared to the same time last year, with the typical home spending 70 days on market, which is seven more days than last December and six more days than November 2024. Homebuyers may want to take note: days on market make this December the slowest December since 2019 and overall, the slowest month of 2024.
Out of the 50 largest metros, 46 saw time on market go up in December. Specifically, Nashville, Tenn. (+22 days), Orlando, Fla. (+21 days), and Rochester, N.Y. (+21 days) saw the greatest increase in time on market this month. Even with the increase, across the country, each of the regions are still seeing time on market below pre-pandemic levels, South (-4 days), Midwest (-17 days) and Northeast (-19 days), with the exception of the West, which is seeing time on market more closely mirror pre-pandemic levels (+1 day).
Increase in price per square foot
Price per square foot continues to rise, experiencing a 1.3% increase this December compared to the same time last year. However, some metro areas saw significantly higher gains, with double digit growth in Cleveland (13.9%), and Hartford, Conn. (12.9%), followed by Milwaukee (8.5%). When compared to pre-pandemic levels, the growth is greater; relative to pre-pandemic levels, the median price per square foot grew by 49.5% nationally, with 20 of the 50 metros experiencing similar or larger growth, led by Hartford, Conn. (66.8%), New York (66.8%) and Nashville (60.3%), which all experienced growth above 60%.
Methodology
Realtor.com housing data as of December 2024. Listings include the active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos/townhomes/row homes/co-ops for the given level of geography on Realtor.com; new construction is excluded unless listed via an MLS that provides listing data to Realtor.com. Realtor.com data history goes back to July 2016. The 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB-202003). With the release of its November 2024 housing trends report, Realtor.com® has restated data points for some previous months. As a result of these changes, some of the data released since September 2024 will not be directly comparable with previous data releases (files downloaded before September 2024) and Realtor.com economics research reports.
Source: Realtor.com
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