How much has the U.S. housing inventory declined? Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic in March, nearly 400,000 fewer homes have been listed on realtor.com compared to last year, according to realtor.com’s Weekly Housing Report from Sept. 19. 

As a result, realtor.com home prices are accelerating at twice the pace they did last year, and homes are selling an average of 12 days faster.

In Florida, the listing decline on realtor.com ranges from a 14.9% drop in the South Florida metro area to a plummet of 44.9% in Jacksonville. Listings’ time-on-the-market has also declined in all Florida metro areas, but less than the national average in five of the nine listed, though in North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, listings spend 21 fewer days on market than they did before the pandemic hit. Detailed market statistics for Sarasota can 

• Cape Coral-Fort Myers – listings down 32.8% – 20 fewer days on market
• Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach – down 43.3% – 16 fewer days on market
• Jacksonville – down 44.9% – 11 fewer days on market
• Lakeland-Winter Haven – down 30.8% – 7 fewer days on market
• Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach – down 14.9% – 5 fewer days on market
• North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton – down 32.1% – 21 fewer days on market
• Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford – down 20.4% – 7 fewer days on market
• Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville – down 42.6% – 7 fewer days on market
• Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – down 45.1% – 10 fewer days on market

“Sellers are more reluctant to list their home given the uncertainty over the economy and the pandemic environment,” says Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com. “Buyers, on the other hand, especially hungry first-timers, remain largely unfazed by the challenges, and are motivated by low mortgage rates and the fear of missing out on the right home.”

Vivas says most sellers are also buyers, so “even as new listings hit the market, another buyer is also added.” He also notes that many rentals and second homes “have been re-occupied by their owners during the pandemic, effectively taking them off the market.”

Since mid-March (the beginning of the COVID pandemic), a total of 2.91 million unique properties have been put on the market for sale – about 390,000 fewer than the 3.30 million listed during the same period last year. Currently, the number of homes on the market is down 39% compared to last year.

In the face of tight inventories, median listing prices on realtor.com continued to grow and hit 11.1% year-over-year last week – more than double January 2020’s price acceleration and the 19th week in a row for price acceleration.

On average, U.S. homes are selling in 53 days right now – 12 days faster than they did one year ago.

Original Article: Almost 400K Fewer Homes Listed Due to the Pandemic By Kerry Smith