Homes listed for sale on Zillow are being bought at a quicker pace this September compared to a year ago.
Across the country, the Seattle-based real estate listing provider says homes that sold in September spent a median of 86 days on Zillow. This is down 30 days from 116 last September.
“The declining inventory of for-sale homes over the past year naturally creates pressure for buyers to more quickly snap up the inventory that is on the market,” says Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow. “This demand has been fueled by huge resets in home prices since market peak, historically low mortgage rates and a slowly improving broader economic climate.”
San Francisco, Sacramento and Dallas properties during September remained on the Zillow website for the fewest days, at 48, 59 and 60, respectively. Since the beginning of 2010, homes have spent a median of 119 days on Zillow before being sold or taken off the market.
All 30 of the largest metros in Zillow’s database saw its homes sell faster this September than a year earlier. Homes were sold the quickest in San Antonio (37 days faster), Sacramento (43 days) and Las Vegas (44 days).
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“Home shoppers in today’s environment need to be prepared to move quickly, with pre-approvals in place and an established sense of what they’re willing to pay for a home,” Humphries says.
“But even though things are moving fast, buyers should resist the urge to enter the bidding wars or pay prices they’re uncomfortable with. We do expect that this need for speed will abate in the near term as mortgage rates rise and more inventory becomes available because of new construction and declining negative equity.”
