April 2022 National Housing Report

Signaling a flattening of the seasonal spring ramp-up, April 2022 home sales increased less than 1% over March – and dropped 12.8% year over year – across the report’s 53 metro areas. That, coupled with an 11.5% increase in new listings from March to April, resulted in a 24.0% surge in inventory month to month.

The Median Sales Price of $420,000 was up 3.4% over March and 15.1% over April 2021. And home offers grew more competitive. For example, average sale to list price ratio measures how close homes are selling to their asking price and in April, the average sale to list price ratio was 104% of the list price, compared to 103% in March and 101% in April 2021.

Though up 24.0% month over month, active inventory was down 10.4% from a year ago, driven in part by a 7.4% decline in new listings year over year.  Months Supply of Inventory increased from 0.7 in March to 0.8 in April. A year ago, Months Supply of Inventory was 1.0.

Homes spent an average of 26 days on the market in April – five days less than March, and two days less than a year ago.

“In the big picture, it’s still a strong housing market, with sales happening quickly and demand easily outpacing supply,” said Nick Bailey, President and CEO. “We’re starting to see a cooling in sales, which isn’t surprising given the record results of 2021 and the recent rise in interest rates. That should create more balance over time, countering the frenzied seller’s market we’ve had for so long. Driven by generational demand, rising rental costs and still relatively low interest rates, 2022 could still rank as one of the best years in the past decade.”

Added RE/MAX Masters real estate agent Josh Horner, who is based in Salt Lake City, UT, “The [local] real estate market has shifted in April. With the inventory of established homes or new construction homes for sale still in short supply, the recent and expected rate hikes have sent a segment of homebuyers to the sidelines to sit it out a bit.”

Highlights and the local markets leading various metrics for April include:

Closed Transactions 
Of the 53 metro areas surveyed in April 2022, the overall average number of home sales is up 0.5% compared to March 2022, and down 12.8% compared to April 2021. The markets with the biggest decrease in year-over-year sales percentage were Miami, FL at -24.9%, Bozeman, MT at -22.5%, and Coeur d’Alene, ID at -21.1%. Only one metro area had a year-over-year sales percentage increase, Honolulu, HI at +0.2%.

Median Sales Price – Median of 53 metro area prices
In April 2022, the median of all 53 metro area Sales Prices was $420,000, up 3.4% compared to March 2022, and up 15.1% from April 2021. No metro areas saw a year-over-year decrease in Median Sales Price. Forty-one metro areas increased year-over-year by double-digit percentages, led by Dallas, TX at +39.5%, Fayetteville, AR at +33.4%, and Coeur d’Alene, ID at +31.2%.

Days on Market – Average of 53 metro areas
The average Days on Market for homes sold in April 2022 was 26, down five days from the average in March 2022 and down two days from the average in April 2021. The metro areas with the lowest Days on Market were Denver, CO at 8, Omaha, NE at 11, and Richmond, VA at 12. The highest Days on Market averages were in Fayetteville, AR at 64, San Diego, CA at 63, and Raleigh, NC at 55. Days on Market is the number of days between when a home is first listed in an MLS and a sales contract is signed.

Months Supply of Inventory – Average of 53 metro areas
The number of homes for sale in April 2022 was up 24.0% from March 2022 and down 10.4% from April 2021. Based on the rate of home sales in April 2022, the Months Supply of Inventory increased to 0.8 compared to 0.7 in March 2022, and decreased compared to 1.0 in April 2021. In April 2022, the markets with the lowest Months Supply of Inventory were a three-way tie among Albuquerque, NM, Fayetteville, AR, and Raleigh, NC at 0.3.