Housing Supply Overview
New-home production is slowing, as soaring costs and declining housing affordability have caused builder confidence to plummet to its lowest level since April 2020. As material costs, interest rates, and home prices continue to surge—the median sales price of a new single-family home was north of $400,000 as of last measure—builders are becoming increasingly cautious about the future of new home sales, with the Commerce Department reporting that sales of new single-family homes, housing starts, and permits recently dropped to a 2-year low. For the 12-month period spanning August 2021 through July 2022, Pending Sales in the Western Upstate region were down 6.3 percent overall. The price range with the largest gain in sales was the $300,001 and Above range, where they increased 14.1 percent.
The overall Median Sales Price was up 12.8 percent to $257,160. The property type with the largest price gain was the Condos segment, where prices increased 25.5 percent to $207,100. The price range that tended to sell the quickest was the $150,001 to $200,000 range at 40 days; the price range that tended to sell the slowest was the $300,001 and Above range at 50 days.
Market-wide, inventory levels were up 74.2 percent. The property type that gained the most inventory was the Condos segment, where it increased 95.7 percent. That amounts to 2.8 months supply for Single-Family homes and 3.0 months supply for Condos.
Monthly Indicators
The U.S. housing market has continued to cool, as rising mortgage rates and record high sales prices have stifled affordability, weakening demand and pricing out a multitude of buyers. Nationally, median household income has failed to keep pace with increasing mortgage payments, with the costs of buying a home about 80% more expensive now than they were just three summers ago, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). As more and more prospective buyers find their home purchase plans delayed, many are turning to the rental market, where competition has intensified due to increased demand.
New Listings were down 1.1 percent to 737. Pending Sales decreased 19.9 percent to 483. Inventory grew 74.2 percent to 1,488 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 13.9 percent to $279,000. Days on Market increased 9.8 percent to 45 days. Months Supply of Inventory was up 93.3 percent to 2.9 months, indicating that supply increased relative to demand.
At a time of year when homebuying activity is typically very strong, soaring homeownership costs have caused home sales to decline nationwide for the fifth consecutive month, with existing-home sales falling 5.4% month-to-month and 14.2% year-over-year as of last measure, according to NAR. But there is a bright spot. Inventory of existing homes has continued to climb this summer, with 1.26 million homes available at the beginning of July, equivalent to a 3 months’ supply. And despite the summer slowdown, homes are still selling quickly, with the typical home staying on market an average of 14 days.
To view these, and previous, market reports click here.