Home prices in metro Boston are 14.5 percent higher than last year, report finds

What about prices in Providence, Worcester, and Springfield? See how long properties are taking to sell.

Homes in metro Boston are selling 18 days faster than they were at this time last year, according to a report by Realtor.com. David L Ryan/Globe Staff file

By PR Newswire

October 15, 2020

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — New data show sellers are slowly getting back into the market, as declines in newly listed homes improved over last week and the total inventory decrease stabilized for the fourth week in a row, according to Realtor.com’s Weekly Housing Report for the week ending Oct. 10. Despite the uptick in available listings, buyer competition remains at an all-time high: Homes sold a full two weeks faster and were listed for $38,000 more than this time last year.

In the Boston metro area, the median list price was up 14.5 percent year over year, inventory was down nearly 30 percent, and homes were selling 18 days faster than they were at this time last year.

In the Providence metro area, the median list price was up 6.6 percent year over year, inventory was down a whopping 52.1 percent, and homes were selling 12 days faster than they were at this time last year.

In metro Worcester, the median list price was up 10.3 percent year over year, inventory was down significantly (51.9 percent), and homes were selling 27 days faster than they were at this time last year.

In the Springfield area, the median list price was up 23.1 percent year over year, inventory was down 43.4 percent, and homes were selling 20 days faster than they were at this time last year.

‘‘Home sales are shaping up for a record-breaking October. There are so many buyers in the market right now that even the slight improvements we’re seeing in inventory could push the number of homes sold this month near mid-2000s levels,’’ said Javier Vivas, director of economic research for the website. ‘‘If sky-high prices continue to lure more sellers into the market, it could prompt the inventory rebound we’ve been waiting for, which would be welcome news for frustrated buyers.’’

As of this week, the total number of homes for sale in the market was down 38 percent compared with last year. However, this week marks the fourth week in a row that the number of homes for sale have stayed even or improved, indicating that inventory declines may be stabilizing. The number of new listings hitting the market was down 5 percent compared with this time last year. This is an improvement over last week, when new listings were down 7 percent.

Homes sold in 52 days, a full two weeks faster than this time last year and a day faster than last week. The rapid turnover of homes for sale reflects the unusually high number of buyers in the housing market this fall, which is fueling fierce competition.

The US median listing price grew 12.2 percent over last year, which was down from last week’s increase of 12.9 percent, marking the first weekly deceleration in price gains since April. Despite the slight slowdown, the median listing price continued to set a new record for listing prices this time of year at just over $350,000. This week also marks the ninth straight week of double-digit growth in listing prices, with the typical home now listing for $38,000 more than this time last year.

Realtor.com tracks the overall strength of the housing market through its proprietary Housing Market Recovery Index, which compares real-time key indicators including trends in number of searchers on Realtor.com, median listing prices, the number of newly listed homes, and the time it takes to sell to January 2020, prior to the pandemic. This week, the index was 111.8, an increase of 1.3 points above last week and 11.8 points stronger than it was pre-COVID.

Here is how all of the cities in the report fared — from how the median price and total listings have changed year over year and the median number of days the properties are taking to sell:

Metro	Median Listing Price YoY	Total Listings YoY	Median Days on Market YoY
Akron, Ohio	6.5%	-51.3%	12 days faster
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.	15.0%	-42.6%	18 days faster
Albuquerque, N.M.	16.7%	-51.2%	7 days faster
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.-N.J.	22.3%	-56.7%	35 days faster
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.	12.9%	-46.5%	10 days faster
Augusta-Richmond County, Ga.-S.C.	10.3%	-46.8%	23 days faster
Austin-Round Rock, Texas	15.1%	-45.7%	13 days faster
Bakersfield, Calif.	17.4%	-45.3%	14 days faster
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.	4.6%	-49.7%	12 days faster
Baton Rouge, La.	12.9%	-37.3%	2 days faster
Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.	3.5%	-36.0%	17 days faster
Boise City, Idaho	16.7%	-71.3%	4 days faster
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.	14.5%	-29.5%	18 days faster
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.	1.6%	-24.8%	42 days faster
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y.	7.5%	-46.9%	7 days slower
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.	13.3%	-36.4%	18 days faster
Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.	16.6%	-42.4%	20 days faster
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.	9.1%	-48.5%	15 days faster
Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga.	12.3%	-52.0%	13 days faster
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.	10.3%	-32.7%	8 days faster
Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.	17.0%	-45.6%	11 days faster
Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio	0.5%	-46.8%	16 days faster
Colorado Springs, Colo.	7.1%	-53.2%	11 days faster
Columbia, S.C.	8.8%	-48.3%	19 days faster
Columbus, Ohio	9.0%	-48.1%	12 days faster
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	5.9%	-46.4%	10 days faster
Dayton, Ohio	17.7%	-45.8%	13 days faster
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.	5.7%	-43.3%	22 days faster
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.	4.0%	-42.4%	7 days faster
Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa	4.8%	-35.8%	9 days faster
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich	12.1%	-46.6%	7 days faster
Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.	18.5%	-46.1%	8 days faster
El Paso, Texas	17.9%	-45.8%	13 days faster
Fresno, Calif.	7.4%	-55.1%	18 days faster
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich	8.8%	-48.0%	2 days slower
Greensboro-High Point, N.C.	10.4%	-49.5%	18 days faster
Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, S.C.	4.7%	-41.5%	9 days faster
Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.	9.0%	-52.3%	7 days faster
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.	7.1%	-32.0%	21 days faster
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas	7.7%	-32.5%	10 days faster
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.	7.7%	-47.1%	13 days faster
Jackson, Miss.	17.7%	-47.1%	20 days faster
Jacksonville, Fla.	2.9%	-46.1%	13 days faster
Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.	9.8%	-48.7%	9 days faster
Knoxville, Tenn.	12.3%	-53.8%	13 days faster
Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.	7.1%	-29.9%	7 days faster
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.	8.8%	-8.0%	8 days faster
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, Ark.	19.1%	-49.0%	18 days faster
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.	16.8%	-23.3%	5 days faster
Louisville/Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.	2.7%	-50.2%	13 days faster
Madison, Wis.	5.0%	-42.3%	9 days faster
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas	17.4%	-46.4%	30 days faster
Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.	12.6%	-48.3%	12 days faster
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.	2.5%	-14.7%	2 days faster
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wis.	6.6%	-39.5%	5 days faster
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.	2.9%	-30.1%	7 days faster
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, Tenn.	8.1%	-41.3%	7 days faster
New Haven-Milford, Conn.	8.7%	-22.5%	28 days faster
New Orleans-Metairie, La.	13.3%	-39.5%	7 days faster
New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.	15.3%	-6.7%	10 days faster
North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.	4.2%	-33.3%	24 days faster
Oklahoma City, Okla.	6.3%	-39.7%	8 days faster
Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa	6.0%	-47.5%	8 days slower
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.	1.6%	-20.1%	4 days faster
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif.	7.6%	-39.6%	16 days faster
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.	6.7%	-42.2%	8 days faster
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.	17.0%	-40.9%	13 days faster
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.	7.7%	-40.3%	7 days faster
Pittsburgh, Pa.	23.1%	-35.9%	10 days faster
Portland-South Portland, Maine	10.4%	-47.2%	33 days faster
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.	6.4%	-43.4%	4 days faster
Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.	6.6%	-52.1%	12 days faster
Raleigh, N.C.	6.9%	-45.3%	12 days faster
Richmond, Va.	11.2%	-46.3%	9 days faster
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.	14.7%	-53.7%	13 days faster
Rochester, N.Y.	10.2%	-44.1%	15 days faster
Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif.	12.7%	-49.0%	14 days faster
Salt Lake City, Utah	18.4%	-51.7%	8 days faster
San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas	4.1%	-40.5%	10 days faster
San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.	12.0%	-25.3%	26 days faster
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.	11.0%	-4.2%	No change
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.	7.2%	-17.9%	10 days faster
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, Pa.	23.1%	-55.0%	30 days faster
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.	6.8%	-30.6%	14 days faster
Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash.	11.6%	-48.9%	7 days faster
Springfield, Mass.	23.1%	-43.4%	20 days faster
St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.	10.7%	-38.2%	10 days faster
Stockton-Lodi, Calif.	10.6%	-63.0%	6 days faster
Syracuse, N.Y.	8.1%	-43.5%	7 days faster
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.	10.4%	-42.5%	12 days faster
Toledo, Ohio	12.5%	-39.7%	10 days faster
Tucson, Ariz.	7.8%	-41.1%	9 days faster
Tulsa, Okla.	12.0%	-40.0%	10 days faster
Urban Honolulu, Hawaii	-11.4%	24.4%	3 days slower
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.	8.4%	-46.7%	22 days faster
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va.	7.3%	-34.9%	7 days faster
Wichita, Kan.	9.6%	-42.6%	11 days faster
Winston-Salem, N.C.	9.8%	-50.8%	13 days faster
Worcester, Mass.-Conn.	10.3%	-51.9%	27 days faster
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.	8.4%	-53.6%	17 days faster