Holiday Slowdown Arrives in December with Some Silver Linings For Buyers
Thursday, January 9th, 2025
December 2024 saw a 22.0% growth in homes actively for sale compared with the same time last year, according to the December Monthly Housing Trends Report from Realtor.com®. Miami (45.4%), San Diego (42.4%), and Denver (41.9%) led the way with the highest active listing growth year over year amongst the top 50 metros in the U.S.
"December is traditionally a slower time for the market, as people settle in for the holidays, and we expect to see a seasonal downturn each year. Compounding this, mortgage rates are hovering in the high 6s, following a strikingly different trend than at this time last year," said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist, Realtor.com®. "Nevertheless, the number of homes for sale grew compared to last December. Further, growing activity in newly listed homes and a slower market pace could spell opportunity for winter buyers who want to get ahead of the busier spring season."
December 2024 Housing Metrics – National
|
Metric |
Change over Dec. 2023 |
Change over Dec. 2019 |
|
Median listing price |
-1.8% (to $402,502) |
+34.2 % |
|
Active listings |
+22.0 % |
-15.7 % |
|
New listings |
+0.9 % |
-11.0 % |
|
Median days on market |
+9 days (to 70 days) |
-7 days |
|
Share of active listings with price |
+0.2 percentage points (to 12.9%) |
+2.4 percentage points |
|
Median List Price Per Sq.Ft. |
+1.3 % |
+49.0 % |
A Slow, but Improved, December as Inventory Ticks Up
While homes actively for sale grew for the 14th straight month in December, the year-over-year growth of 22.0% was slightly lower than November's year-over-year growth, which was 26.2%. That being said, inventory is still inching its way back to 2017-2019 levels. Seller activity stalled in December, as newly listed homes were 0.9% above last year's levels, a decrease from November's rise of 2.0%, due in part to the Christmas holiday. Furthermore, in December, inventory sat 15.7% below pre-pandemic levels, which was a large decrease from the previous month's 21.5% gap.
More Time for Homebuyers as December Days on Market Hits 2024 High
Homes sat on the market for longer this December, compared to the same time last year, with the typical home spending 70 days on market, which is seven more days than last December and six more days than November 2024. Homebuyers may want to take note: days on market make this December the slowest December since 2019 and overall, the slowest month of 2024.
Out of the 50 largest metros, 46 saw time on market go up in December. Specifically, Nashville, Tenn. (+22 days), Orlando, Fla. (+21 days), and Rochester, N.Y. (+21 days) saw the greatest increase in time on market this month. Even with the increase, across the country, each of the regions are still seeing time on market below pre-pandemic levels, South (-4 days), Midwest (-17 days) and Northeast (-19 days), with the exception of the West, which is seeing time on market more closely mirror pre-pandemic levels (+1 day).
Increase in Price per Square Foot
Price per square foot continues to rise, experiencing a 1.3% increase this December compared to the same time last year. However, some metro areas saw significantly higher gains, with double digit growth in Cleveland (13.9%), and Hartford, Conn. (12.9%), followed by Milwaukee (8.5%). When compared to pre-pandemic levels, the growth is greater; relative to pre-pandemic levels, the median price per square foot grew by 49.5% nationally, with 20 of the 50 metros experiencing similar or larger growth, led by Hartford, Conn. (66.8%), New York (66.8%) and Nashville (60.3%), which all experienced growth above 60%.
December 2024 Housing Overview of the 50 Largest Metros
|
Metro Area |
Median Listing |
Median Listing |
Median Listing |
Median Listing |
Median Listing |
|
$399,950 |
-3.6 % |
-0.6 % |
25.8 % |
47.9 % |
|
|
$498,500 |
-7.7 % |
-5.3 % |
42.4 % |
51.8 % |
|
|
$350,000 |
1.4 % |
0.9 % |
15.5 % |
27.8 % |
|
|
$289,788 |
0.0 % |
0.0 % |
14.1 % |
28.6 % |
|
|
$801,383 |
0.2 % |
3.4 % |
36.0 % |
56.6 % |
|
|
$249,950 |
0.4 % |
4.0 % |
31.6 % |
46.5 % |
|
|
$422,450 |
5.6 % |
1.2 % |
25.8 % |
54.8 % |
|
|
$347,450 |
-0.7 % |
1.9 % |
16.2 % |
31.1 % |
|
|
$319,050 |
-4.8 % |
3.4 % |
23.2 % |
50.5 % |
|
|
$239,950 |
9.1 % |
13.9 % |
33.4 % |
52.8 % |
|
|
$349,450 |
-2.9 % |
3.3 % |
27.1 % |
52.6 % |
|
|
$422,450 |
-2.9 % |
-0.3 % |
25.1 % |
41.7 % |
|
|
$577,350 |
-5.4 % |
-1.1 % |
16.1 % |
34.1 % |
|
|
$249,900 |
6.2 % |
1.4 % |
11.1 % |
27.1 % |
|
|
$399,900 |
2.6 % |
12.9 % |
37.9 % |
66.8 % |
|
|
$361,405 |
0.4 % |
-0.3 % |
20.5 % |
36.4 % |
|
|
$309,900 |
1.6 % |
2.4 % |
21.2 % |
49.6 % |
|
|
$384,500 |
-5.7 % |
-2.2 % |
28.2 % |
45.9 % |
|
|
$369,995 |
-7.5 % |
-1.2 % |
17.9 % |
37.9 % |
|
|
$468,450 |
1.9 % |
4.6 % |
46.5 % |
53.9 % |
|
|
$1,094,000 |
-0.5 % |
1.6 % |
29.5 % |
42.8 % |
|
|
$304,998 |
1.7 % |
1.9 % |
27.1 % |
37.7 % |
|
|
$329,960 |
3.5 % |
-0.4 % |
41.9 % |
57.6 % |
|
|
$522,500 |
-9.9 % |
-6.6 % |
30.7 % |
39.8 % |
|
|
$357,450 |
6.7 % |
8.5 % |
41.0 % |
46.6 % |
|
|
$423,198 |
0.7 % |
-0.1 % |
20.9 % |
28.0 % |
|
|
$537,450 |
-3.9 % |
0.2 % |
46.2 % |
60.3 % |
|
|
$325,000 |
0.0 % |
-1.2 % |
16.7 % |
25.5 % |
|
|
$749,000 |
2.0 % |
1.5 % |
30.4 % |
66.8 % |
|
|
$309,950 |
-3.1 % |
-0.1 % |
24.0 % |
37.5 % |
|
|
$419,950 |
-4.3 % |
-2.4 % |
32.5 % |
51.4 % |
|
|
$358,075 |
5.3 % |
5.4 % |
25.4 % |
48.9 % |
|
|
$499,995 |
-5.1 % |
0.6 % |
31.6 % |
49.4 % |
|
|
$235,000 |
-1.7 % |
3.2 % |
23.7 % |
30.8 % |
|
|
$597,000 |
-0.5 % |
0.5 % |
28.0 % |
38.1 % |
|
|
$524,950 |
5.0 % |
5.9 % |
41.9 % |
44.1 % |
|
|
$444,498 |
-0.4 % |
1.0 % |
23.5 % |
49.6 % |
|
|
$419,950 |
-2.3 % |
2.9 % |
30.1 % |
55.0 % |
|
|
$597,000 |
3.1 % |
0.9 % |
47.4 % |
56.2 % |
|
|
$257,400 |
3.0 % |
4.4 % |
28.8 % |
38.2 % |
|
|
$615,000 |
-1.6 % |
-0.5 % |
24.2 % |
34.6 % |
|
|
$329,950 |
-1.7 % |
-1.9 % |
18.3 % |
33.7 % |
|
|
$964,725 |
-1.6 % |
-0.5 % |
34.5 % |
52.6 % |
|
|
$889,500 |
-10.9 % |
-6.5 % |
-1.1 % |
17.9 % |
|
|
$1,268,500 |
-2.3 % |
-0.9 % |
17.0 % |
24.0 % |
|
|
$724,475 |
-3.3 % |
2.0 % |
24.9 % |
46.6 % |
|
|
$277,450 |
0.9 % |
-0.1 % |
32.0 % |
27.4 % |
|
|
$395,000 |
-6.0 % |
-5.5 % |
41.3 % |
56.9 % |
|
|
$387,450 |
3.3 % |
5.2 % |
29.6 % |
45.6 % |
|
|
$572,500 |
-2.1 % |
3.4 % |
21.8 % |
51.5 % |
|
Metro Area |
Active Listing |
New Listing |
Median Days |
Median Days |
Price– |
Price- |
|
38.3 % |
17.8 % |
65 |
12 |
16.2 % |
+3.2 pp |
|
|
13.0 % |
-14.2 % |
80 |
6 |
16.1 % |
-3.9 pp |
|
|
17.5 % |
5.4 % |
49 |
3 |
12.3 % |
-0.7 pp |
|
|
19.0 % |
17.1 % |
69 |
8 |
12.6 % |
-2.5 pp |
|
|
1.1 % |
-18.2 % |
60 |
7 |
8.9 % |
-0.2 pp |
|
|
17.0 % |
-14.1 % |
61 |
2 |
5.8 % |
+0.3 pp |
|
|
33.6 % |
3.6 % |
63 |
10 |
16.0 % |
+3.1 pp |
|
|
6.4 % |
11.8 % |
51 |
1 |
10.2 % |
-1.8 pp |
|
|
18.2 % |
-11.0 % |
52 |
8 |
12.5 % |
1.5 pp |
|
|
3.7 % |
-19.1 % |
55 |
4 |
13.0 % |
-0.7 pp |
|
|
24.9 % |
-1.5 % |
56 |
7 |
17.7 % |
-0.3 pp |
|
|
31.1 % |
14.7 % |
66 |
8 |
17.4 % |
+0.0 pp |
|
|
41.9 % |
0.8 % |
74 |
13 |
24.1 % |
+11.5 pp |
|
|
8.0 % |
-1.6 % |
50 |
-1 |
11.8 % |
-0.4 pp |
|
|
3.4 % |
-9.0 % |
49 |
4 |
7.4 % |
+0.6 pp |
|
|
24.5 % |
9.0 % |
59 |
3 |
13.6 % |
+0.5 pp |
|
|
12.1 % |
0.4 % |
60 |
3 |
16.9 % |
-2.2 pp |
|
|
36.8 % |
2.5 % |
78 |
17 |
17.9 % |
+2.9 pp |
|
|
12.2 % |
1.6 % |
68 |
4 |
11.6 % |
+1.7 pp |
|
|
41.5 % |
16.3 % |
63 |
9 |
15.5 % |
+0.7 pp |
|
|
26.3 % |
-7.1 % |
63 |
9 |
9.0 % |
+1.5 pp |
|
|
13.4 % |
11.2 % |
51 |
3 |
15.3 % |
-2.7 pp |
|
|
18.5 % |
-10.2 % |
73 |
10 |
15.5 % |
-3.0 pp |
|
|
45.4 % |
11.3 % |
79 |
18 |
14.7 % |
+0.7 pp |
|
|
6.0 % |
-16.0 % |
45 |
1 |
11.6 % |
-3.1 pp |
|
|
8.0 % |
0.5 % |
59 |
5 |
10.1 % |
-0.3 pp |
|
|
17.1 % |
3.6 % |
66 |
22 |
11.9 % |
-3.1 pp |
|
|
12.4 % |
-11.6 % |
83 |
6 |
12.3 % |
-0.3 pp |
|
|
0.3 % |
6.4 % |
73 |
2 |
4.6 % |
-1.3 pp |
|
|
28.4 % |
-4.1 % |
58 |
0 |
15.2 % |
-2.6 pp |
|
|
42.4 % |
-8.5 % |
80 |
22 |
17.0 % |
+0.4 pp |
|
|
6.4 % |
-5.9 % |
57 |
1 |
10.9 % |
-1.1 pp |
|
|
32.8 % |
5.2 % |
66 |
13 |
21.2 % |
+0.3 pp |
|
|
14.4 % |
-10.0 % |
69 |
3 |
12.2 % |
-1.0 pp |
|
|
13.0 % |
-6.7 % |
80 |
14 |
20.8 % |
+8.7 pp |
|
|
4.3 % |
-9.2 % |
49 |
4 |
16.6 % |
+7.8 pp |
|
|
27.0 % |
-1.8 % |
70 |
7 |
11.6 % |
+0.7 pp |
|
|
10.1 % |
2.2 % |
54 |
0 |
10.5 % |
+1.5 pp |
|
|
32.8 % |
-1.9 % |
66 |
7 |
11.1 % |
+0.4 pp |
|
|
1.4 % |
-27.6 % |
56 |
21 |
3.9 % |
-5.9 pp |
|
|
22.1 % |
-8.2 % |
62 |
10 |
11.8 % |
+0.9 pp |
|
|
16.1 % |
3.8 % |
74 |
6 |
17.7 % |
-0.8 pp |
|
|
41.2 % |
0.0 % |
55 |
11 |
10.9 % |
+0.2 pp |
|
|
14.0 % |
-3.6 % |
64 |
6 |
7.9 % |
+0.4 pp |
|
|
-1.0 % |
-18.5 % |
50 |
7 |
7.2 % |
+1.1 pp |
|
|
18.1 % |
-7.4 % |
63 |
6 |
10.5 % |
+1.2 pp |
|
|
9.6 % |
-3.2 % |
58 |
5 |
12.9 % |
+1.4 pp |
|
|
27.0 % |
8.0 % |
72 |
15 |
19.6 % |
-0.2 pp |
|
|
17.7 % |
16.9 % |
47 |
2 |
14.4 % |
-3.2 pp |
|
|
19.9 % |
-3.5 % |
50 |
0 |
10.8 % |
+1.0 pp |
