Holiday dinners in formal dining rooms may be becoming a thing of the past as buyers embrace more casual open concept living spaces.
Zillow research finds the share of for-sale listings mentioning open concept layouts – in which walls are removed to combine the kitchen, living room and dining room into a single great room – has more than doubled since 2015, while the share of listings mentioning a formal dining room has slightly dipped.
Among the top 35 metro areas, homes for sale with formal dining rooms continue to be more common and more expensive than homes with open concept layouts. But the price difference has been cut in half, and the gap in the share of listings has considerably shrunk over the past five years.
It isn't clear whether open concept layouts are becoming more common or if they have simply become a more popular selling feature and therefore are mentioned more often in listings and command a higher price.
Open concept living areas really appeal to younger, millennial buyers who aspire to a different lifestyle than their parents' generation. Millennials make up the largest group of home buyers and they want to live and entertain in a more casual way. As they become parents, open concept living areas allow them to keep an eye on their young children while they're preparing meals.
Zillow analyzed listing descriptions in the country's largest 35 metros from March to August of 2015 and 2019 and identified those that mention formal dining rooms using terms like "formal," "private" or "separate" dining room, and listings that mention "open concept."
Among the top 35 metros, the share of listings that mention a formal dining room is 8.6% in 2019, a slight dip from 8.8% in 2015. By contrast, in 2015, only 2% of listings mentioned open concept, but the share of listings with this feature jumped to 5% in 2019.
The share of listings mentioning open concept rose in all 35 markets examined. Dallas saw the greatest percentage point increase at 5.2. Meanwhile, the share of formal dining mentions in listings decreased in 21 out of the top 35 markets, with Los Angeles leading the way with a 4.5 percentage point decrease over the past five years.
This year, five metro areas had more open concept listing mentions than formal dining room mentions: Seattle, Boston, San Diego, Portland and Dallas. Boston leads all metros with 10.7% of for-sale listings mentioning open concept. Houston takes the top spot for listings with formal dining rooms with 16.7%.
Housing hasn’t traditionally been a hot topic in presidential elections, but with homeownership financially out of reach for many Americans, the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination have been eager to discuss the issue.
On Thursday night, candidates on the debate stage answered a question about affordable housing for the first time this election cycle. MSNBC debate moderator Kristen Welker asked billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer whether he was the best person to address this issue, citing the housing crisis in Steyer’s home state of California.
“I understand exactly what needs to be done here, which is we need to change policy and that we need to apply resources here to make sure that we build literally millions of new units,” Steyer responded.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts then chimed in, echoing the call to build millions more homes while also citing the historic hurdles people of color have faced when attempting to access mortgage financing. Meanwhile, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey used the debate stage as an opportunity to broadcast his plan for a renter tax credit.
Multiple other candidates, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, have released detailed plans showcasing how they would tackle the trouble many Americans face when looking to find a home to rent or to buy.
“For the first time in recent memory, affordable housing is a topic on the presidential campaign trail,” said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Some 85% of Americans “believe ensuring everyone has a safe, decent, affordable place to live should be a top national priority,” according to a nationwide public-opinion poll commissioned between the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Hart Research Associates.
But the primary calendar itself may be largely the cause of candidates’ enthusiasm, said Rick Sharga, a mortgage-industry veteran.
“California — perhaps the epicenter of unaffordable housing — is scheduled to have its primary earlier than in past election cycles, and voters in the Golden State will very likely pay more attention to the affordable housing proposals being presented by the Democratic hopefuls than voters in many other states,” Sharga said.
The Trump administration has taken steps recently to address housing-related issues. Last week, the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development unveiled plans outlining how America’s housing-finance system could be overhauled, including ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And on Tuesday, the White House released an extensive report detailing the forces contributing to chronic homelessness, particularly in states like California.
The following Democratic candidates did not respond to requests for comment from MarketWatch, nor have they released plans nor spoken extensively about issues surrounding housing: Former Vice President Joe Biden, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana and former Rep. Joe Sestak from Pennsylvania.
Here’s what other Democratic candidates are saying about affordable housing:
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, released a plan dubbed “Housing for All,” that addresses everything from the need to build more housing units to combatting gentrification.
Like many of his policies, the Sanders campaign framed its housing proposal in the context of what the average American faces versus Wall Street’s profits. “In America today, over 18 million families are paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing, while last year alone the five largest banks on Wall Street made a record-breaking $111 billion in profits,” the campaign said in its description of Sanders’ plan.
Here are some of the many ways in which Sanders hopes to address Americans’ housing needs:
• Preventing Wall Street funds from selling large pools of mortgages
• Investing $1.48 trillion over a decade in the National Affordable Housing Trust to fund the building, rehabilitation and/or preservation of 7.4 million affordable housing units.
• Setting aside $70 billion to repair and modernize public housing.
• Creating a national cap on annual rent increases at no more than 3% or 1.5 times the Consumer Price Index (whichever is higher).
• Forming an office in the Department of Housing and Urban Development designed to strengthen rent control, tenant protections and inclusive zoning.
• Making federal funding contingent on states encouraging development that promotes integration and public transportation access.
• Instating a 25% home flipping tax on real-estate speculators who sell non-owner-occupied properties that sell for more than their original purchase price if sold within five years.
• Creating an independent National Fair Housing Agency in the vein of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that protects people from housing discrimination and enforces housing standards for renters.
• Investing $8 billion across HUD and the Department of Agriculture to form a first-time homebuyer assistance program
In the first Democratic presidential debate, Sanders also mentioned the country’s homeless population in response to a question about his calls for expanded government benefits.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
As she has done on other issues, such as student debt, Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts, has released a detailed plan to tackle a wide variety of housing-related issues.
“Housing is not just the biggest expense for most American families — or the biggest purchase most Americans will make in their lifetimes,” the Warren campaign said in a post to the site Medium. “It also affects the jobs you can get, the schools your children can go to, and the kinds of communities you can live in. That’s why it’s so important that government gets housing policy right.”
To that end, Warren has introduced the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act, which serves as the backbone of her affordable housing plan:
Elizabeth Warren has a plan to build, preserve or rehabilitate 3.2 million housing units for lower- and middle-income people to lower rents by 10%.
Warren’s plan includes, among other things:
• Building, preserving or rehabilitating 3.2 million housing units nationwide for lower- and middle-income people in order to lower rents by 10%. This, she said, would be funded by raising the estate tax back to Bush-era levels.
• Creating a down-payment assistance program designed to address the black-white homeownership gap by providing assistance to first-time home buyers who live in a formerly red-lined neighborhoods or communities that were segregated by law and are still currently low-income.
• Expanding fair-housing legislation to bar housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, veteran status or income.
• Extending the Community Reinvestment Act to require non-bank mortgage lenders invest in minority communities.
• Providing $2 billion in assistance to mortgage borrowers who are still underwater on their home loans following the financial crisis, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth.
• Instituting new requirements for sales of delinquent mortgages .
Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro
Naturally, as the former HUD Secretary under President Obama, Castro has also put forth an extensive plan for addressing housing-related issues more broadly. Among the many ideas he suggested, Castro proposed:
• Ending chronic homelessness nationwide by 2028 by expanding funding for grant programs and creating a definition of homelessness at the federal level.
• Expanding the housing choice voucher program.
• Creating a refundable renters’ tax credit for households who spend more than 30% of their income on housing.
Julian Castro proposes allocating an additional $45 billion annually for the national Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund to support affordable housing initiatives.
• Allocating an additional $45 billion annually for the national Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund to support affordable housing initiatives.
• Reforming zoning laws to encourage the construction of affordable housing.
• Extending fair-housing protections to the LGBTQ community and to individuals who were previously incarcerated.
• Developing an approach to identify where gentrification is occurring and help households avoid being displaced.
• Establishing zoning policies that take into account climate change.
Sen. Cory Booker
In a post describing his broad plan to expand access to affordable housing, Cory Booker’s campaign called housing “a basic need and a basic right.” Here’s what the junior senator from New Jersey’s plan includes:
• Creating a tax credit that would aid in capping rental costs at 30% of before-tax income.
• Implementing zoning reform by requiring cities to eliminate restrictive zoning rules to qualify for federal loan and grant programs.
• Funding the construction of new housing units designated for low-income renters by providing $40 billion a year to the Housing Trust Fund.
Cory Booker wants to give $1,000 baby bonds to every child at birth, which can grow by up to $2,000 per year depending on the family’s income.
• Expanding fair-housing laws to prohibit housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or source of income.
• Expanding access to federal housing assistance programs.
• Creating a fund that would pay for legal counsel for renters facing eviction.
• Increasing the amount of money designated for grants given to communities to administer homelessness services.
• Giving $1,000 baby bonds to every child at birth, which can grow by up to $2,000 per year depending on the family’s income. This money could then be used to fund the down payment on the purchase of a home.
Sen. Kamala Harris
Earlier this month, Kamala Harris, the junior senator from California, released an extensive plan designed to increase the homeownership rate in black communities. This plan involved:
Kamala Harris wants to create a refundable tax credit for households who make less than $100,000 a year and spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs.
• Setting aside $100 billion for federal grants that would help with down payments or closing costs for families who rent or live in historically redlined communities
• Strengthening anti-discrimination laws to prevent discrimination in home sales, rentals and mortgage lending
Additionally, Harris has introduced the Rent Relief Act, which would create a refundable tax credit for households who make less than $100,000 a year (or $125,000 in pricier areas) and spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs.
The Harris campaign did not return a request for comment.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Mayor Pete Buttigieg from South Bend, Ind. has put forth an extensive proposal, called the Douglass Plan, to address racial disparities in homeownership and wealth. The plan would create a “21st Century Community Homestead Act” that would be piloted in select cities across the country.
Through this program, a public trust would purchase abandoned properties and provide them to eligible residents. These people would include those who earn less than the area’s median income or those who live in historically redlined or segregated areas. Residents who participate would be given full ownership over the land and a 10-year forgivable lien to renovate the home so it could be used as a primary residence.
• Funding national investment in affordable housing construction
• Reforming land use rules to make it easier to build affordable housing units
• Expanding federal protections for tenants against eviction and unjust harassment
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Sen. Klobuchar from Minnesota has included multiple housing-related initiatives as part of her outline of more than 100 actions she plans took take in her first 100 days in office, if she is elected. They include:
• Expanding a pilot program that provides mobility-housing vouchers to families with children to help them relocate to higher opportunity neighborhoods.
• Suspending changes to fair housing policy ushered in by HUD Secretary Ben Carson in order to combat segregation in housing.
• Overhaul housing policy more broadly as part of a national infrastructure plan.
Andrew Yang
Attorney and entrepreneur Andrew Yang’s campaign did not return a request for comment. On its website, he calls for revisiting zoning rules by “taking the needs of renters and those who would be interested in moving into areas into account.”
Former Rep. John Delaney
During a CNN Town Hall, former Rep. John Delaney from Maryland said there was an affordable housing crisis in the U.S. when asked about the rising cost of living across the country. “We need to put more resources behind affordable housing,” he said.
To that end, Delaney has a proposed a $125 billion affordable housing plan which would do the following:
• Increase funding for the Housing Trust Fund to at least $7 billion annually.
• Create a $5 billion affordable-housing grant program that provides funding to states and municipalities that jettison zoning restrictions limiting the construction of affordable multifamily housing.
• Establish a right to counsel in eviction procedures, accompanied by $500 million in federal funding for low-income renters’ legal representation.
• Upping the funding for the Homelessness Assistance Grant program and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Grant and Per Diem account.
Additionally, Delaney released a draft of legislation co-coauthored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Republican from Texas, in 2018 that would:
• Revoke the charters held by secondary-mortgage market giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over five years and, instead, establish a government guarantee on mortgage through the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae).
• Require borrowers to put at least 5% down to get a mortgage.
Sen. Michael Bennet
Last year, Colorado’s Sen. Michael Bennet introduced legislation to combat evictions by creating a national database to track instances of eviction and giving money to local and state programs that would increase tenants’ legal representation. The Bennet campaign did not return a request for comment, and its website does not lay out any specific housing-related policies though it does identify affordability as an issue.
Marianne Williamson
Author and speaker Marianne Williamson’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. She has not released a housing-specific plan, but did call for protecting homeowners from predatory lending practices and increasing access to loan modifications for distressed mortgage borrowers as part of a broader economic plan.
A stately historic mansion in Ohio strolled away with the title of most popular home this week on realtor.com®.
Known as the Herschede Mansion, the distinctive home in Cincinnati recently landed the market for $599,000—which means a buyer could snag a classic abode for a measly $70 per square foot.
The home’s imposing stone facade gives way to grand spaces from a bygone era. The listing photos will make any vintage home lover swoon, and this week, plenty of folks fell for the charms of this home’s craftsmanship.
Other homes you loved this week included a small Massachusetts home built in 1719, a historic home in Hattiesburg, MS, built in 1910, and a log cabin in the heart of “Fixer Upper” country.
For the full scoop on this week’s most popular homes, simply scroll on down…
Why it’s here: Once a chateau in the French countryside, this seven-bedroom mansion was carefully deconstructed and relocated to a 93-acre site in New Jersey in 1950. Gilded panels, crystal chandeliers, a sunroom, and indoor pool are just a few of the home’s over-the-top features. The property also includes a two-bedroom guesthouse, a two-bedroom caretaker apartment, and equestrian facilities—including an indoor riding arena. Hey, why go outside when you don’t need to?
Why it’s here: A classic home priced right at the U.S. median! Built in 1922, this three-story Colonial is traditional in every sense of the word, with clean lines, hardwood floors, and classic details. The kitchen and baths were recently updated. Stained glass, high ceilings, and a large Florida room are just a few of the home’s unique qualities.
Why it’s here: Waco isn’t just modern farmhouses and fixer-uppers. There’s even a log cabin! This 2.5-acre property known as Black Mountain Ranch has a rustic cabin, workshop, several smaller outbuildings, and an old RV currently being used as a “guesthouse.” The four-bedroom main house has more than 1,500 square feet of country charm surrounded by trees and views.
Why it’s here: Known as the Dr. R.C. Cook home and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this family home is located in the heart of the town’s historic district. The home was built in 1920, and its 3,200 square feet include detailed woodwork, fireplaces, a screened porch, and a gorgeous clawfoot tub in the owner’s suite bathroom. Recent renovations include upgrades to the electrical system and the HVAC system, as well as the addition of security monitors and alarms.
Why it’s here: This stone mansion sits on more than 2 acres, close to the Vikings facility, the airport, and the downtowns of both Twin Cities. Known as Eagan’s Castle, the home was built in 1985 and recently renovated with a smart black-and-white motif, across its nearly 9,000 square feet. Wood beam ceilings, a formal library, gym, home theater, and lavish owner’s suite are just a few of the castle’s most royal amenities.
Why it’s here: This 4-acre property is headed to auction on Nov. 23 with an opening bid of $200,000. Built in 1975, the main house is a bit of a 1970s time capsule. The huge 5,800-square-foot home has beamed ceilings, stone walls, and built-ins. Outdoors, there are courtyards for luxuriating, an indoor greenhouse, covered balcony, walkways, and a guesthouse.
Why it’s here: Near the Smoky Mountains sits this 15.5 acre retreat, with a main house built in 1900 and a recently restored farmhouse that the listing describes as “Pottery Barn” style. Indoors, the four-bedroom home has trendy upgrades like wood planked walls, crown moldings, and a farmhouse-style kitchen. Outside, the acreage features its own fully stocked creek. There’s also a lighted pavilion over the pond, a rock waterfall, water slide, and private beach.
Why it’s here: This massive, 13,600-square-foot English Manor-style mansion, built in 1997, is being sold by the television titan Regis Philbin. The six-bedroom main house includes a mahogany library, seven fireplaces, pub room, home theater, gym, and sauna. A garden path leads to a one-bedroom guesthouse with loft, full kitchen, and bathroom. There’s also a tennis and basketball court, pool, hot tub, and manicured grounds for big-time entertainment and play.
Why it’s here: Built in 1719, this charming Cape Cod is the second-oldest house in town. The two-bedroom main house has received updates over 20 years by the current owner. The half-acre corner lot also includes a carriage house that is currently being used for storage but could be used as a guesthouse, home office, or workshop.
Why it’s here: When local businessman Frank Herschede wanted to build a home in Cincinnati for his wife, Sadie, and their family, he turned to architect Samuel S. Godley.
In 1908, the home was finished, a gleaming Greek/Italian Renaissance Revival with seven bedrooms and more than 8,500 square feet. The Herschedes raised their children in the home, which is every bit as striking today as it was more than a century ago.
Notable elements like the ornate vestibule doors and detailed woodwork are still intact. The best part? The third-floor ballroom for entertaining a crowd.
There’s also a five-car garage with chauffeur’s quarters. Other Old World details include pocket doors, crown moldings, and stained glass. Even though those elements are still in place, the grand mansion has been restored and updated for elegant, modern living.
A new listing in Marin County has upped the ante on sky-high prices in the San Francisco Bay Area.
With an asking price of astronomic $85 million, this family compound in Ross, CA, takes the title of most expensive new listing on realtor.com®. And if it goes for anywhere close to the asking price, it will shatter real estate records in the area.
“Indeed, it would be the most expensive listing ever sold in Marin by far—the Belvedere, CA, sale at 440 Golden Gate for $47.5 million is the highest open market sale to date,” says Joel Goodrich, a San Francisco-based luxury real estate agent.
The Marin County sale Goodrich refers to happened in 2015 on a mansion originally listed for $49 million.
“Should 36 Glenwood Ave. in Ross sell for anywhere near the $85 million list price, it will easily set a new record for Marin County,” Marin County luxury home specialist Thomas Henthorne says.
He added, “Some may question the steep list price. However, superlatives fail in describing the estate. The lot size, manicured grounds, privacy, size of the home, the modern design, and level of architectural design/finishes make this property a rarity.”
For more context on this mansion’s outsize price tag, a $10.5 million July sale for a Ross mansion is the most expensive transaction in Marin County over the last six months.
Ross, with a population of about 2,500, is known as an exclusive enclave, with excellent schools, proximity to San Francisco, and a lovely walkable downtown of shops and restaurants.
What’s more, housing inventory is slim. There are only 10 listings currently available, and the second-most expensive home for sale in the town is “just” $22 million.
We recently covered a gorgeous midcentury modern residence in Ross that sold for $7.5 million after multiple price cuts, and included 1.4 acres, a tennis court, and a pool.
But this week’s priciest property offers the largest parcel on the Ross market, at just over 5 acres, with a main house, pool and poolhouse, and caretaker’s cottage.
Entry
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Living room with fireplace
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Outdoor living space
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Pool
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Built in 2012, the “exceptional private estate” in the heart of Ross, was created to be both “refined and relaxed,” the listing description notes.
The spacious spread offers a pool, tennis court, and a bocce ball court. The home is accessed by a motor court, and the home is surrounded by multiple terraces and patios, which expand the living space outside.
The layout features a total of nine bedrooms, 12 baths, and 21,988 square feet. Inside, you’ll find a living room with a fireplace, and glass doors that open out to the patio. In addition, the layout includes a formal dining room, kitchen,family room, office, media room, rec room, a wine cellar, and a bonus room.
Outside, a huge living space includes a lounge area and outdoor fireplace.
The grounds boast of being just “steps away” from open space trails. And the landscaped property includes mature oak and magnolia trees, bamboo, an edible garden and fruit trees, and rose and hydrangea gardens, lush lawns, and walkways. Ross Creek runs through the gardens for much of the year.
Owned by John R. Tozzi, the president of Cambridge Investment Ltd., this isn’t the only property he’s put on the market. The financier is also selling up a 600-acre ranch in Jackson Hole, WY.
Neal Ward and Glen Williams, both with Compass, hold the listing.
That supersoft, down-filled bedding you’ve been looking forward to staying warm under all winter long could be the death of you. No, we’re not kidding.
A Scottish man almost died after sleeping for three months under a new duvet, according to a case study recently published in the medical journal BMJ. Martin Taylor, 43, mysteriously became constantly tired and had trouble breathing. It got so bad that the nonsmoker struggled for breath when doing simple things—even just walking between rooms in his home. He missed 14 days of work as a result.
The cause of his troubling illness? Taylor’s new feather-filled duvet and pillows. Be afraid!
It turns out Taylor had a rare case of “feather duvet lung” (FDL) disease, an allergy that inflames the lungs, making it difficult to breathe. The disease is caused when folks inhale the dust from goose or duck feathers stuffed into bedding, according to a 2010 research article in the International Archives of Allergy and Immunology.
Comforters and duvets, pillows, and even down-filled jackets can trigger the disease in otherwise healthy folks.
So should everyone steer clear of feather bedding? No, pulmonologist Dr. Owen Dempsey told the New York Times. (The Scottish doctor at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary was the person who finally figured out what was plaguing Taylor and properly diagnosed him.) The great majority of people won’t develop such a serious allergy to feathers.
Plus, the effects of the disease aren’t usually permanent if it’s caught early enough. Taylor switched his bedding back to hypoallergenic synthetic materials and immediately began to recover. Within a year, he was back to normal, according to BMJ.
“Go ahead and buy [feather bedding] if you want,” Dempsey told the Times. “But if you get breathlessness or a cough, and it’s not settling within a few weeks of buying some feather bedding, you should mention it to a clinician.”
Existing-home sales climbed 1.9% in October from September to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.46 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales are up 4.6% from a year ago.
The median price for existing homes in October was $270,900, up 6.2% from last year. October's price increase marks 92 straight months of year-over-year gains.
Inventory at the end of October sat at 1.77 million units, down 2.7% from September and 4.3% from a year earlier.
The economy is offering everything it's got — high employment, low interest rates, healthy home price appreciation — and still there's only modest growth in existing home sales. Buyers simply cannot find the homes they want at prices they're willing to pay, and many are sitting on the sidelines instead. Part of the problem is inventory, which fell again in October: A lack of entry-level homes means newcomers to the market can have a hard time getting a foothold. They and other budget-conscious shoppers shy away from prices in many of the country's most populous areas, creating a nation of would-be home buyers who show preternatural patience in waiting for the right home to come along.
Rents grew 2.3% year-over-year in October, driving the median U.S. rent up to $1,600.
The typical home in the U.S. is worth $231,700, 4.7% higher than a year ago. That's the lowest annual growth since February 2013.
Inventory fell 6.3% year-over-year, the most in 18 months after a brief period of gains earlier this year. There are 101,724 fewer homes on the market than a year ago.
Annual growth in the U.S. rental market has been very consistent over the past year, never slower than 1.7% nor more than 2.4% — slower than recent annual income growth that has hovered around 3% in recent months and a sustainable pace for renters, especially those trying to save for homeownership.
The median U.S. rent grew 2.3% year-over-year in October and was up 0.2% from September, to $1,600 per month. This growth is well in line with that registered over the past several months, but even so annual growth has crept up in each month since June – from 1.8% to 2.3%. Among the nation's 50 largest markets, annual rent growth was fastest in October in Phoenix (up 6.4% YoY), Las Vegas (+5.2%) and Charlotte (+4.0%).
The nation's four most expensive large rental markets are in California – San Jose ($3,318/month), San Francisco ($3,150), Los Angeles ($2,614) and San Diego ($2,548). Boston rounds out the top five list of most expensive large rental markets ($2,369/month).
The median U.S. home value grew 4.7% year-over-year in October, to $231,700, down from 5.1% annual growth in September and 7.8% year-over-year growth in October 2018. The median U.S. home value was up 0.3% in October from September.
Among the nation's 50 largest markets, annual home value growth in September was fastest in Salt Lake City (+11.5% YoY), Austin (+7.8%) and Birmingham (+7.7%). Growth was negative – home values are currently lower than they were a year ago – in three markets: San Jose (-11.1%), San Francisco (-3%) and New Orleans (-0.1%).
Since hitting a recent high of 8.3% in December, annual growth has been slower than the month prior in every month so far in 2019. But after hitting a low of 0.3% in June, quarterly growth has stabilized around 1% for each of the past three months (1% in August, 1.1% in September, 1.1% in October). Similarly, monthly appreciation has hovered between 0.3% and 0.4% in each of the past four months.
Market conditions over the past several years have been tilted markedly in favor of sellers, who could largely expect to get very close to or even above their asking prices and to receive good offers in a short span of time. Even a small shift in that balance of power in favor of buyers is a good thing for both parties: Smoother market conditions may entice more buyers into the market, people previously wary of the potential for bidding wars and/or tight closing windows. And would-be sellers may be more likely to finally list their homes with less fear of having to turn around and become buyers themselves in a hectic market. The potential for that added inventory from sellers coming off the sidelines will go a long way toward sating pressing demand and alleviating exceptionally tight inventory.
There were 1,514,099 U.S. homes listed for sale in October (seasonally adjusted), down 6.3% from a year ago. Inventory levels have fallen year-over-year in each of the past seven months, although U.S. for-sale inventory was up 0.6% from September.
Inventory was down year-over-year in 39 of the nation's 50 largest metro markets (for which data is available). For-sale inventory fell the most from a year ago in Seattle (-28.4% year-over-year), Sacramento (-20.5%) and Cincinnati (-17.9%). Inventory was up the most from a year ago in Las Vegas (+13.8%), San Antonio (+10.9%) and Detroit (+10.1%).
