Housing markets in the U.S. remain resilient against a pandemic, recession, and high unemployment. Cooped-up buyers have flooded markets this summer, and median list prices have jumped more than 9% over last year’s levels, according to realtor.com® data.
“Right now we’re seeing markets recover faster where they’re able to contain the virus better,” says Javier Vivas, realtor.com®’s director of economic research. “Markets with strong technology sectors have been more resilient.”
More than half of the largest metro areas have already recovered from their pandemic lows at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to realtor.com®’s research. Its research team looked at median home asking price growth, the percentage of new listings coming online, the number of days on the market that it took homes to sell, and online home search growth. Then, they scored markets based on their recovery. A score of 100% means the market is performing at the same level it was in January; higher than 100% means it is doing better than that baseline. The metros tracked in the study include the main city and surrounding suburbs, exurbs, and smaller cities.
Lately, the Northeastern markets with fewer cases of COVID-19 have recovered strongly. But real estate pros there are reporting a shift in demand from buyers. Townhomes and condos within walking distance to the city center are no longer the most coveted; instead, larger homes further out in the suburbs and exurban markets are experiencing greater demand.
Realtor.com® identified the following markets as recovering the most since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis:
- Boston: 122.52%
- Seattle: 113.73%
- New York: 112.74%
- Philadelphia, Pa.: 112.35%
- Denver: 111.66%
- San Francisco: 109.27%
- Los Angeles: 108.78%
- Las Vegas: 107.71%
- Rochester, N.Y.: 106.61%
- Memphis, Tenn.: 105.9%
Source: “Comeback Kids: These Housing Markets Have Recovered the Most Since the Start of the Pandemic,” realtor.com® (Aug. 3, 2020)
