April is usually spring's poster child, thanks to the rainy days, blooming flowers, baby birds, and a flurry of housing market activity. But instead of the giant jump in home sales, the number of new homes in April fell 44.1 percent nationally compared to last year. As a result, the overall number of homes for sale dropped by 15.3 percent year-over-year. Though the median home prices stood at $320,000, which is the same as March, it also shows how deeply the pandemic has affected the housing market as prices should have increased based on the trajectory of the housing market before COVID-19.
April is usually one of the busiest months for the housing market, as the spring home-buying season is well underway. Not this year. The novel coronavirus has dealt the real estate market a series of blows, starting with sidelining both buyers and sellers and worsening the already severe housing shortage.
The number of homes that went on the market plummeted in April compared with the previous year. New listings were down 44.1% nationally, according to realtor.com®’s Monthly Housing Trends Report. That affected the overall number of homes for sale, which was down by about 189,000 listings, representing about a 15.3% drop in housing inventory in April compared with the prior year.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Sales
Sales and Texting? Know the Rules
Texting your sales prospects en masse can be an efficient way to get your message through if you follow these best practices
Affordability
Will NAR's Landmark Commissions Settlement Lower Housing Costs?
The $418 million deal changes long-standing rules—written and unwritten—that consumers claim inflated sales commissions for home sellers, including new-home builders
Market Data + Trends
January's Mortgage Rate Dip Prompts Some Thawing of the Housing Market
A drop in mortgage rates from recent peaks nudged more homebuyers and sellers into the market, signaling the start of greater supply and demand