Market Focus: February

And now, this month’s crunching of numbers is, as always, courtesy of the San Francisco Association of Realtors.

 

January started off strong for the housing market, with healthy buyer demand and strong market fundamentals. A robust increase in housing starts in December points to an active year for new construction, but higher material costs, especially lumber, and a limited supply of buildable lots will temper the number of new units. 

 

New Listings were down 29.4% for single-family homes and 0.9% for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. Pending Sales increased 69.4% for single-family homes and 77.4% for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. 

 

The Median Sales Price was up 13.8% to $1,695,000 for single-family homes but decreased 8.5% to $1,075,000 for Condo/TIC/Coop properties. Months Supply of Inventory decreased 20.8% for single-family units but was up 45.7% for Condo/TIC/Coop units. 

 

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s January research estimates approximately 2.7 million homeowners with mortgages are currently in forbearance plans. Some of these homes may eventually come to market, but given the strong appreciation in most market segments in recent years, these eventual home sales are likely to be mostly traditional sellers. However, a modest increase in short sales and foreclosures at some point this year would not be surprising.