The recovery in the housing market is continuing – and is being led by five high-tech hubs, according to the Weekly Housing Recovery Report released Thursday by realtor.com.
For the week ending June 13, realtor.com found that local markets with strong tech job presences are bouncing back more quickly than others. Five of these communities – Denver, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and San Diego – pushed past their January 2020 pace last week.
“As the market heads into the summer, growth in online home searches and asking prices has surpassed pre-COVID levels, but movement in supply and time on market remains well below seasonal pace,” said Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com. “But locally the story is much more nuanced. Markets with stronger job creation pre-COVID are proving to have the crucial edge for real estate activity, particularly those with a strong technology sector. As more tech companies weather the storm, the stable jobs and incomes they offer will continue to power demand for homes in these areas, enabling home sales to bounce back faster than the rest of the country this summer.”
Overall, the National Recovery Index reached 90 nationwide – up 1.2 points from the prior week and 10 points below January 2020 baseline levels. It also is a 6.9-point increase over the 83.1 low-point seen during the week ending May 2.
Locally, there are eight markets above the January baseline. In addition to the five mentioned above, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Rochester, New York, were all above 100 for the week.
The index also found:
- Median listing prices are now growing at 4.6 percent over last year, just above the pace seen pre-COVID.
- New listings are down 20 percent.
- Time on market remains 16 days slower than last year.
- Total housing inventory was down 27 percent.
See the full report – including numbers for communities across the country – here.