By National Association of Realtors
Every month, the National Association of REALTORS® conducts the REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey to gather on-the-ground information from REALTORS®.1 This feedback from REALTORS® provides valuable information at the local level that are then aggregated to create a national or broad picture of housing market trends. Here are five key trends from the RCI survey of how the pandemic impacted the housing market in 2020.
1. Buyers competed more intensely for fewer homes
With the Fed’s quick and massive policy to prevent a recession, mortgage rates fell to below 3%2 starting in July, spurring an increase in demand from both first-time and repeat buyers that saw existing home sales rise to 5.6 million, their highest level since 2006. However, the supply of homes on the market has tremendously lagged behind demand, intensifying buyer competition and quickening the pace at which homes sold. REALTORS® reported that there were nearly four offers per sold property from about 2 in 2019. Properties typically sold at an average of 26 days compared to 34 days in 2019. With more intense demand, the median sales price rose 13% to $309,100 as of December 2020.
