Regional housing markets are facing persistent inventory constraints and high prices in 2023, though slightly lower than their recent peaks in 2021 and 2022 due to Federal Reserve rate hikes. Affordability remains a pressing issue in local markets such as Lubbock, Texas, where every home sold during July 2023 was purchased for above its asking price. The current median sale price in Lubbock is $350,000, up 45.8% from $240,000 in July 2022, Forbes reports.
Similarly, 81.3% of all homes for sale sold above asking price in Sunnyvale, Calif., up almost 30 percentage points from July 2022, when that percentage was 52.9%.
The third most overpriced housing market is Worcester, which is about halfway between Springfield and Boston, Massachusetts. In the Worcester housing market, 76.1% of homes sold in July 2023 sold above their asking price, which is up slightly from last July’s 73.9%. Both inventory and the number of active listings have declined year-over-year in Worcester, by 63.4% and 40.3%, respectively. These factors are helping contribute to continued high home prices in Worcester, with the first month its median sale price reaching $400,000 occurring in May 2022. Back in the pre-pandemic days, in July 2019, the median sale price in Worcester was only $269,950. Unfortunately, it seems those days are long gone.
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