33. Inventory down 40% from pre-COVID level as price growth intensifies

Inventory down 40% from pre-COVID level as price growth intensifies

Competition already fierce as shoppers start the buying season early

- Home value appreciation accelerates, breaking new records with 19.6% annual gain
- Inventory drops below 1 million to record-low levels -- down 40.5% from December 2019
- Rents are up 15.7% from last year, but growing at their slowest pace since March

SEATTLE, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The home shopping season appears to already be in full swing, as anxious buyers outnumbered dwindling new listings and drove inventory to record low levels in December. Limited supply is already pushing price growth up, as Zillow®'s latest market report1 shows monthly home value appreciation accelerated for the first time since July.

In addition to not wanting to wade into such a tight market as a buyer, homeowners could be hesitant to list their houses and move due to a resurgence in coronavirus cases and employers' rising uncertainty about post-pandemic working arrangements, according to a recent Zillow survey.

"Home shoppers picked the shelves clean this December, leaving fewer active listings than ever before in the U.S. housing market," said Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow. "Enough determined buyers kept up their house hunt to reignite monthly price appreciation. Rising mortgage rates could be the next potential headwind, but demand has proven persistent; neither high prices nor slim inventories have deterred buyers so far."

The typical home value is now $320,662, 19.6% above that of December 2020. The annual growth rate represents an all-time high in data dating back more than 20 years. After decelerating since July, month-over-month home value appreciation reignited, jumping from 1.2% in November to 1.4% in December.

Zillow Media Release continues in the We Get Around Network Forum (www.WGANForum.com)