SEATTLE, Sept. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- (NASDAQ: RDFN) —
Nine of the 10 markets where homebuyer competition has intensified
the most since last year have median sale prices below $500,000 despite seeing price growth of at least
10% over the last year, according to a new report from Redfin
(www.redfin.com). Housing markets that offer homebuyers more bang
for their buck and are located outside of major cities are heating
up, with relatively affordable places including El Dorado County, CA and Camden County, NJ rising in popularity as
house hunters take advantage of remote work and record-low interest
rates.
Meanwhile, iconic coastal hubs such as New York and San
Francisco are losing their luster as the coronavirus
pandemic accelerates an exodus out of dense, expensive job centers.
Seven of the 10 markets that have cooled most in the last year are
located in New York (including
four of the five New York City
boroughs; Manhattan was excluded
from this analysis due to insufficient data) and seven have median
sale prices above $500,000.
The report is based on a Redfin ranking of the U.S. housing
markets that have heated up and cooled down the most over the past
year. The ranking is based on year-over-year change in home prices,
home sales, the share of homes that sold above their list price,
the speed of home sales and Redfin.com searches.
Relatively affordable areas outside big cities—like
El Dorado County, CA and
Camden County, NJ—are heating up
most
El Dorado County, CA came in
first place, with measures of homebuyer competition surging faster
than any other U.S. county in the last year. Spanning from the
eastern outskirts of Sacramento to
the southern half of Lake Tahoe (but not including the city of
Sacramento, which is in
Sacramento County), the region has
seen home sales skyrocket nearly 60% over the last year as buyers
have flocked from the Bay Area, despite the fact that it's located
in a fire-prone area, with the most recent wildfire igniting in
early September. It's the most expensive county in the top 10, with
a median sale price of $550,000, but
that's relatively affordable compared with what $1.45 million, the median sale price in nearby
San Francisco.
"We're seeing a huge influx of buyers coming to El Dorado County from the Bay Area," said
local Redfin agent Ellie Hitchcock.
"With so many large tech companies allowing employees to work from
home for the foreseeable future, homeowners in San Francisco are selling their two-bedroom,
two-bathroom condo and buying a 5,000-square-foot home with five
bedrooms and five bathrooms on an acre of land here for the same
price. It's simply a no-brainer."
In second place was Camden County,
NJ, a region of southern New
Jersey located just across the Delaware River from
Philadelphia. Homes in the area
have been selling fast, spending a median of 28 days on the market
in July, compared with 47 days a year earlier. While prices have
climbed 13% since last year, homes still sell for a median of
$215,000—well below the national
median.
"Camden's economy has changed
dramatically over the course of its history," said Redfin chief
economist Daryl Fairweather. "The
city of Camden is still recovering
from the devastating effects of housing discrimination and
redlining. But more recently, the state of New Jersey has made a concerted effort to
revitalize the area by offering corporate tax incentives. The
revitalization seems to be improving Camden's appeal to outsiders, but local
first-time homebuyers could see themselves priced out of the
market."
Housing Market Summary of U.S. Counties That Have Heated Up
the Most (July 2020*)
Rank
|
U.S.
County
|
Parent
Metro Area
|
Median
Sale Price
|
Median
Sale Price,
YoY
Change
|
Homes
Sold, YoY
Change
|
Median
Days on
Market
|
Median Days
on Market,
YoY Change
(in Days)
|
Share of
Homes that
Sold Above
List Price
|
Q2 Net Inflow
of Redfin Users
Searching in
Area, YoY
Change
|
1
|
El Dorado County,
CA
|
Sacramento,
CA
|
$550,000
|
10.0%
|
57.3%
|
28
|
-7
|
32.2%
|
107%
|
2
|
Camden County,
NJ
|
Camden, NJ
|
$215,000
|
13.2%
|
9.5%
|
28
|
-19
|
37.1%
|
512%
|
3
|
Columbia County,
OR
|
Portland,
OR
|
$350,000
|
13.3%
|
17.3%
|
18
|
-11
|
40.0%
|
78%
|
4
|
Fairfield County,
CT
|
Bridgeport,
CT
|
$490,000
|
16.7%
|
34.0%
|
70
|
1
|
24.7%
|
862%
|
5
|
Morgan County,
IN
|
Indianapolis,
IN
|
$200,000
|
14.3%
|
19.1%
|
7
|
-11
|
32.8%
|
133%
|
6
|
Comal County,
TX
|
San Antonio,
TX
|
$342,100
|
9.8%
|
44.4%
|
55
|
-11
|
18.2%
|
78%
|
7
|
Cowlitz County,
WA
|
Longview,
WA
|
$329,000
|
17.9%
|
26.6%
|
9
|
-5
|
52.9%
|
-3%
|
8
|
Fauquier County,
VA
|
Washington,
DC
|
$475,000
|
13.1%
|
33.3%
|
42
|
-8
|
29.7%
|
-11%
|
9
|
Gloucester County,
NJ
|
Camden, NJ
|
$224,500
|
12.3%
|
10.7%
|
31
|
-17
|
37.2%
|
64%
|
10
|
Spotsylvania County,
VA
|
Washington,
DC
|
$344,950
|
17.8%
|
9.1%
|
30
|
-8
|
36.1%
|
15%
|
|
National
|
-
|
$323,000
|
8.1%
|
9.8%
|
35
|
-1
|
29.9%
|
-
|
*Net inflow data
covers the second quarter of 2020
|
Expensive, dense areas—especially in New York—are cooling
down
The Bronx ranked number one on
the list of U.S. housing markets that are cooling down. It is one
of seven other New York markets,
including Brooklyn, Queens and Staten
Island, that are in the bottom 10. Home sales in the
Bronx have plummeted 43% since
last year while the number of Redfin.com users searching in the
area dropped 16% in the second quarter.
"People want out of New York
City," said local Redfin agent Ken
Wile. "This pandemic has changed everybody's lives. People
who had to commute to the city no longer have to, so they want more
space, more value and more nature."
Many people leaving New York
City are moving north to Westchester and Putnam counties, Wile said, though he hasn't
noticed many people leaving New York
state altogether.
San Francisco County ranked
number two on the list of housing markets that have slowed down the
most. New listings skyrocketed 110% year over year in July—a sign
that homeowners are fleeing. The San
Francisco metro area has seen its supply of homes increase
more than any other major metro since the pandemic began, forcing
sellers to lower expectations for what they can reap in a sale. The
region has seen a greater increase in price drops than any other
major metro, with a quarter of sellers cutting prices. Still,
San Francisco's median sale price
remains sky-high at nearly $1.5
million.
"I've been telling sellers that if they're not willing to
compromise on price after a couple of weeks, they'll probably be
holding onto their home for two to four more years," said San
Francisco Redfin agent Gabrielle
Bunker. "A lot of sellers are having a hard time coming to
terms with that—they're really, really wishing that the market was
the way that it was six to nine months ago."
Housing Market Summary of U.S. Counties That Have Cooled Down
the Most (July 2020*)
Rank
|
U.S.
County
|
Parent
Metro Area
|
Median
Sale Price
|
Median
Sale Price,
YoY
Change
|
Homes Sold,
YoY
Change
|
Median
Days on
Market
|
Median
Days on
Market,
YoY
Change
(in Days)
|
Share of
Homes that
Sold Above
List Price
|
Q2 Net Inflow
of Redfin Users
Searching in
Area, YoY
Change
|
1
|
Bronx County,
NY
|
New York,
NY
|
$525,000
|
5.2%
|
-43.3%
|
75
|
10
|
18.3%
|
-16%
|
2
|
San Francisco County,
CA
|
San Francisco,
CA
|
$1,450,000
|
0.0%
|
-4.9%
|
24
|
5
|
53.0%
|
-7%
|
3
|
Suffolk County,
MA
|
Boston, MA
|
$661,000
|
0.5%
|
-8.7%
|
21
|
5
|
39.3%
|
-10%
|
4
|
Kings County, NY
(Brooklyn)
|
New York,
NY
|
$825,000
|
-9.8%
|
-50.7%
|
110
|
6
|
7.7%
|
5%
|
5
|
Dutchess County,
NY
|
Poughkeepsie,
NY
|
$328,000
|
2.5%
|
-13.8%
|
71
|
22
|
24.4%
|
-117%
|
6
|
Ontario County,
NY
|
Rochester,
NY
|
$204,000
|
-11.9%
|
-31.2%
|
20
|
3
|
40.2%
|
-125%
|
7
|
Rensselaer County,
NY
|
Albany, NY
|
$188,040
|
-1.0%
|
-12.9%
|
30
|
3
|
38.0%
|
-243%
|
8
|
Queens County, NY
(Queens)
|
New York,
NY
|
$550,000
|
-6.8%
|
-38.6%
|
89
|
23
|
11.7%
|
160%
|
9
|
Norfolk County,
MA
|
Boston, MA
|
$560,000
|
2.7%
|
-7.3%
|
21
|
5
|
45.7%
|
-167%
|
10
|
Richmond County, NY
(Staten Island)
|
New York,
NY
|
$550,000
|
0.0%
|
-38.8%
|
61
|
16
|
7.9%
|
-65%
|
|
National
|
-
|
$323,000
|
8.1%
|
9.8%
|
35
|
-1
|
29.9%
|
-
|
*Net inflow data
covers the second quarter of 2020
|
To read the full report, including methodology and additional
agent insights, please visit:
https://www.redfin.com/blog/hot-housing-markets-affordable-pandemic.
About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered residential real
estate company, redefining real estate in the consumer's favor in a
commission-driven industry. We do this by integrating every step of
the home buying and selling process and pairing our own agents with
our own technology, creating a service that is faster, better and
costs less. We offer brokerage, iBuying, mortgage, and title
services, and we also run the country's #1 real estate brokerage
search site, offering a host of online tools to consumers,
including the Redfin Estimate. We represent people buying and
selling homes in over 90 markets in the
United States and Canada.
Since our launch in 2006, we have saved our customers over
$800 million and we've helped them
buy or sell more than 235,000 homes worth more than $115 billion.
For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate
agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends
and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to
Redfin's press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com.
To view Redfin's press center, click here.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/affordable-areas-outside-big-cities-are-heating-up-the-fastest-as-the-pandemic-changes-homebuyers-priorities-301135244.html
SOURCE Redfin