SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Trulia®, a
leading destination for homebuyers and renters, today released
a report that finds inventory falling for the fifth straight
quarter, pushing home affordability further out of reach for more
Americans. Meanwhile, in some markets across the country, inventory
show signs of picking up. In this report, we reveal the latest
findings from this quarter's edition of the Trulia Inventory and
Price Watch.
Nationally, housing inventory continues to dive. This summer,
the number of homes on the market dropped for the fifth straight
quarter, extending a slump and dropping 6.7% over the past year.
The number of starter and trade-up homes on the market nationwide
has dropped by 10.7% and 9.2%, respectively. Meanwhile, premium
home inventory dropped just 3.2% over the past year. The
persistent and disproportional drop in starter and tradeup home
inventory is pushing affordability further out of reach for
homebuyers. Starter and trade-up homebuyers need to spend 1.7%
and 0.9% more of their income than this time last year, whereas
premium homebuyers only need to shell out 0.6% more of their
income.
2016 Q3 National Inventory Monitor
|
|
Housing
Segment
|
2016 Q3
Inventory
|
Change, 2015 Q3 - 2016
Q3
|
|
Median
List Price
|
Share
|
Inventory
|
% of Income
Needed to Buy Median
Price Home in
Segment
|
% Change
in Median List
Price
|
Percentage
Point Change in
Share
|
% Change in
Inventory
|
Additional Share
of Income Needed to Buy
a
Home (Percentage -Point Change)
|
|
Starter
|
$161,202
|
23.0%
|
297,732
|
38.5%
|
7.4%
|
-0.4 pts
|
-10.7%
|
+1.7 pts
|
|
Trade-Up
|
$280,579
|
24.0%
|
306,376
|
25.5%
|
6.4%
|
-0.9 pts
|
-9.2%
|
+0.9 pts
|
|
Premium
|
$579,713
|
52.9%
|
650,498
|
13.9%
|
7.5%
|
+1.2 pts
|
-3.6%
|
+0.6 pts
|
|
Among the 100
largest U.S. metro areas. Share is the percent of for-sale homes
that fall into each segment, which is defined separately for each
metro. Median price for each segment is the stock-weighted average
of the median price of each segment in each metro. Some point
change estimates may be slightly different than stated values
because our differing procedure occurs before
rounding.
|
|
Starter Homebuyers Face the Biggest Impacts of Declining
Affordability
Falling inventory continues to take a
toll on affordability. Starter homebuyers need to dedicate 38.5% of
their monthly income to buy a starter home – a 1.7 point increase
from last year. While not a hard ceiling, applying for a mortgage
with a debt-to-income ratio of more than the 36% guideline used by
lenders such as Fannie Mae will make the mortgage approval process
more complicated for first-time buyers, especially when factoring
in other debt like student loans, credit cards, and auto payments.
Most trade-up and premium home buyers, on the other hand, are still
in the clear. Each would need to spend just 25.5% and 13.9% of
their income to buy a home, respectively.
Signs of Increased Inventory Appear on the West Coast and
Florida
Although low
inventory has been a persistent national trend over the past few
years, relief is on the way for homebuyers in some markets. Of the
100 largest markets, 21 have experienced increases in inventory
over the past year, with many showing double-digit gains. However,
half of these markets are in just two states: California and Florida. When looking at markets that have
shown rising inventory for at least three consecutive quarters,
four markets have hit an upward streak: Bakersfield, Calif., San Francisco, Sarasota, Fla., and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Housing Markets
where Inventory is on the Rise
|
U.S. Metro
|
Total Inventory,
2015Q3
|
Total Inventory,
2016Q3
|
% Change in
Inventory
|
Cape Coral-Fort
Myers, FL
|
4,991
|
6,825
|
36.7%
|
Miami, FL
|
11,216
|
14,928
|
33.1%
|
Las Vegas,
NV
|
10,315
|
13,394
|
29.8%
|
Fresno, CA
|
1,370
|
1,705
|
24.4%
|
North
Port-Sarasota-
Bradenton, FL
|
5,646
|
6,967
|
23.4%
|
Oklahoma City,
OK
|
4,993
|
5,996
|
20.1%
|
San Francisco,
CA
|
1,063
|
1,269
|
19.3%
|
West Palm Beach,
FL
|
10,083
|
11,879
|
17.8%
|
Fort Lauderdale,
FL
|
8,984
|
10,417
|
15.9%
|
Bakersfield,
CA
|
2,134
|
2,360
|
10.6%
|
San Diego,
CA
|
6,304
|
6,897
|
9.4%
|
San Jose,
CA
|
1,809
|
1,966
|
8.7%
|
Memphis,
TN
|
3,898
|
4,202
|
7.8%
|
Phoenix,
AZ
|
19,067
|
20,383
|
6.9%
|
Winston-Salem,
NC
|
2,870
|
3,041
|
6.0%
|
Salt Lake City,
UT
|
1,689
|
1,779
|
5.3%
|
Houston,
TX
|
23,079
|
24,248
|
5.1%
|
Milwaukee,
WI
|
4,022
|
4,139
|
2.9%
|
Denver, CO
|
7,225
|
7,426
|
2.8%
|
Little Rock,
AR
|
3,971
|
4,063
|
2.3%
|
San Antonio,
TX
|
7,549
|
7,580
|
0.4%
|
NOTE: Among the
100 largest U.S. metro areas.
|
QUOTES FROM TRULIA'S CHIEF ECONOMIST RALPH MCLAUGHLIN:
- "Nothing is permanent. Not even low inventory. With notoriously
stingy markets like San Francisco,
San Jose and Denver showing signs of picking up after
prolonged periods of declining inventory, homebuyers in these
markets are beginning to see a break in gridlock and should
experience more choice in the months ahead."
- "As inventory continues to fall nationally across starter,
tradeup, and premium home segments, starter homebuyers will need to
dedicate a larger share of their income towards a home. The good
news, however, is that incomes are on the rise."
About the Trulia Inventory and Price Watch
The Trulia
Inventory and Price Watch offers buyers and sellers deeper insight
into the change in supply and affordability of homes over the past
year, within three different segments of the market: starter homes,
trade-up homes, and premium homes. Based on the for-sale homes
listed on Trulia, this report calculates housing inventory within
each segment nationally and in the 100 largest U.S. metros, from
July 1, 2015 to July 1, 2016. For the full report and
methodology, see here.
REMAINING 2016 RELEASE SCHEDULE
Report
|
Release
Date
|
Q4 (October –
December) 2016
|
Tuesday, December,
13, 2016
|
About Trulia
Trulia® is a vibrant home shopping
marketplace, focused on giving homebuyers, sellers, and renters the
information they need to make better decisions. On mobile and the
Web, Trulia provides house hunters with insights and unique
information about properties, neighborhoods, and real estate
agents. Additionally, Trulia offers data and information about
schools, crimes, commute times, and the real estate market.
Launched in 2005, Trulia is based in San Francisco and is owned and operated by
Zillow Group (NASDAQ: Z and ZG).
Trulia is a registered trademark of Trulia, LLC.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Cecilia
Xia
pr@trulia.com
415-400-7222
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SOURCE Trulia