February 2024

Housing Market Snapshot - U.S.

With the housing market snapshot, we’ve walked that tightrope of giving you important and timely information with context, but not burying you with statistics and information. (You’ll find a deeper explanation of each of the key measurements further down.) This content is great to use for emails or social media, and most importantly, to internalize it, have an opinion about it, and communicate it to anyone who will listen. Use this data to foster conversations in your local markets, because if you aren’t, someone else is. This is your opportunity to explain the “why” for the people in your market.

February 2024

Housing Market Snapshot For U.S.

Total Active Listings

596,782

-1.9%

New Listings

311,487

+9.7%

Price Per Square Foot

$206

+2.9%

Months Supply

3.93

-4.6%

Median Sold Price

$362,000

+3.3%

Median Days On Market

60

-8.3%

Total Sold Properties

151,934

+2.5%

% Closed Over List Price

0.27

+11.1%

Median Sold Price

The median sold price is the sold price in the middle of the data set when you arrange all the sold prices from low to high. The median sold price represents the figure at which half of the properties in the area sell at a higher price and the other half at a lower price. The average sold price may be skewed due to outliers in the data (if a property has sold for a price far higher or lower than typical for an area).

Median Sold Price for
U.S.

Median Days On Market

Days on Market (DOM) is the number of days from the date on which the property is listed for sale on the local multiple listing services (MLS) to the date when the seller has signed a contract for the sale of the property. DOM can be used as a way to determine which homes are fresh or stale. The smaller the number here the tighter/more competitive the real estate market is because of supply-side constraints.

Median Days on Market for
U.S.

Total Sold Properties

The key to looking at this section of total sold properties is the pace of change. If this is downward trending, then the “addressable market” is compressing. If it is going up, it is expanding. When analyzing these findings, think about the “why.” If it is going down because of a lack of inventory, that will put upward pressure on price. However, it could also be going down because it is December and there is a seasonality component to real estate. Always form an opinion as to “why.”

Total Sold Properties for
U.S.

Percentage Closed Over List Price

Percentage over lists reflects the number of homes in the market that have sold for over their list price. This can be a good indicator of how hot the market is and if it is heating up or cooling down.

% Closed Over List Price
for U.S.

Total Active Listings and New Listings

Total active listings will tell you the number of homes for sale and the pace of change on that number. If it’s going up, more inventory is coming onto the market. If it’s going down, fewer homes are available for sale. New listings are a deeper layer into inventory. Not just the total available homes for sale (total active), but also how many of those are new. This will give you a leading indicator for how the total active listings will trend. These stats can be an early indicator of market direction. For example, if you see inventory staying flat but new listings are trending down, you can generally assume the inventory will be compressing.

Total Active listings and New Listings for
U.S.

Price Per Square Foot

The price per square foot is calculated by dividing the price by the square footage of the home. This can give you a snapshot of how home values are performing for the market you’re looking to dive into. If the price per square foot is going up, then values are going up. This data point can be a little clumsy since smaller entry-level homes can skew the data, but it is a good indicating measurement.

Price Per Square Foot for
U.S.

Months Supply

Months Supply of Inventory (MSI) is a calculation that quantifies the relationship between supply and demand in a housing market. If new homes stopped entering the market, how many months would it take to burn through all of the homes currently available for sale? MSI answers this question.

Months Supply for
U.S.