Real Estate Blog

The coronavirus has driven listings down across the board, but even at its lowest impact point—in the affordable market—there is still not enough supply of homes for sale to meet demand

Between mid-March and mid-April, the new supply of homes for sale over $1 million fell 29 points from the year prior, according to a new Redfin analysis of listing activity.

As of March 15, there were 66,528 homes for sale priced at or above $1 million across the 50 largest U.S. metro areas. Between March 15 and April 20, 10,338 more were listed for sale, but 10,708 were taken off the market unsold, for a total decrease in supply of 1%. During the same period a year earlier supply increased 28%.

In contrast, homes priced under $250,000 saw a 34% increase in supply between March 15 and April 20 of this year. Still, that’s down from a 59% increase during the same time in 2019. While there may be more supply here than in the high-end market, it by no means solves an ongoing affordability crisis in the U.S.

“There has been a drastic shortage of affordable starter homes for the past several years,” said Redfin lead economist Taylor Marr. “Homeowners selling in an affordable price range are still experiencing plenty of demand from buyers right now, even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Owners of much more expensive homes, however, are seeing a slack in demand, likely because buyers of higher end homes have been influenced by tight credit for jumbo loans and volatile economic and financial market conditions. Luckily, many of these homeowners have the luxury of waiting until the time is right to list their homes for sale.”

The coronavirus has driven down listings across the board, but high-end listings have almost completely dried up

Coronavirus Impact on Listings of Homes for Sale by Price Tier

As a result of this dramatic slowdown at the high end of the market, some of the most expensive cities around the country are seeing the biggest slowdown in the rate at which homes for sale are being added to the market. San Francisco had the largest decline from a year ago, down 75 percentage points to just a 32% increase in supply in 2020 compared to a 107% increase a year earlier. Boston (-66 points to 31%) and San Jose (-56 points to 41%) were also among the hardest-hit. However, some less expensive markets also saw big drops, including Detroit (-56 points to 13%) and Buffalo (-47 points to 29%).

Top 10 metro areas where the coronavirus has had the largest impact on listings of homes for sale

Coronavirus Impact on Listings of Homes for Sale by Metro Area

Just two of the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S. saw more supply added to the market than last year: Salt Lake City, where the addition of homes for sale was up 6 points to 72% from 66% a year earlier, and Phoenix, up 5 points to 54%. Even in those two metro areas, expensive listings are seeing the largest shortfall and increases in supply are only at the lower end of the market.

Top 10 metro areas where the coronavirus has had the smallest impact on listings of homes for sale

Coronavirus Impact on Listings of Homes for Sale by Metro Area

Full metro breakdown: Change in new supply during 2020 coronavirus crisis vs. same period in 2019

Metro Area 2019 Inventory as of March 17 2019 New Listings 2019 Delistings 2019 Net New Supply 2019 Change in Supply 2020 Inventory as of March 15 2020 New Listings 2020 Delistings 2020 Net New Supply 2020 Change in Supply Difference 2020 vs 2019
San Francisco, CA 5,088 5,978 535 5,443 107% 4,256 2,512 1,139 1,373 32% -75%
Boston, MA 8,541 9,051 729 8,322 97% 8,505 4,315 1,663 2,652 31% -66%
Detroit, MI 11,540 9,302 1,309 7,993 69% 11,295 3,326 1,863 1,463 13% -56%
San Jose, CA 2,113 2,231 210 2,021 96% 1,588 988 342 646 41% -55%
Buffalo, NY 1,673 1,416 138 1,278 76% 1,269 563 198 365 29% -48%
Chicago, IL 33,443 22,055 2,786 19,269 58% 30,476 10,393 7,088 3,305 11% -47%
Sacramento, CA 4,508 4,549 454 4,095 91% 4,054 2,864 1,008 1,856 46% -45%
Denver, CO 6,248 7,630 432 7,198 115% 5,570 5,290 1,339 3,951 71% -44%
Philadelphia, PA 21,986 13,595 1,762 11,833 54% 18,042 5,686 3,659 2,027 11% -43%
Kansas City, MO 6,798 5,259 427 4,832 71% 4,633 1,989 633 1,356 29% -42%
Minneapolis, MN 8,610 8,321 495 7,826 91% 8,533 6,506 1,787 4,719 55% -36%
Pittsburgh, PA 8,248 3,759 389 3,370 41% 7,569 1,111 532 579 8% -33%
Baltimore, MD 10,055 7,180 799 6,381 63% 8,754 4,374 1,655 2,719 31% -32%
New York, NY 73,025 27,571 4,871 22,700 31% 66,577 8,125 8,753 -628 -1% -32%
Providence, RI 4,622 2,950 323 2,627 57% 3,993 1,580 580 1,000 25% -32%
St. Louis, MO 8,775 6,060 547 5,513 63% 6,839 2,920 776 2,144 31% -31%
Los Angeles, CA 26,132 14,301 2,154 12,147 46% 18,987 6,993 4,070 2,923 15% -31%
Washington, D.C. 16,117 14,772 1,387 13,385 83% 14,045 10,339 2,872 7,467 53% -30%
Hartford, CT 4,787 2,589 263 2,326 49% 4,432 1,342 504 838 19% -30%
Dallas, TX 24,498 15,864 1,808 14,056 57% 22,581 10,073 3,618 6,455 29% -29%
Louisville, KY 2,990 2,235 214 2,021 68% 2,745 1,491 328 1,163 42% -25%
Houston, TX 27,753 15,004 2,167 12,837 46% 27,542 9,870 4,023 5,847 21% -25%
Richmond, VA 3,137 2,904 221 2,683 86% 2,620 2,046 445 1,601 61% -24%
Columbus, OH 5,263 4,118 263 3,855 73% 5,071 2,894 410 2,484 49% -24%
Riverside, CA 18,548 8,323 1,470 6,853 37% 13,435 4,379 2,344 2,035 15% -22%
San Diego, CA 7,541 4,966 649 4,317 57% 5,077 2,967 1,154 1,813 36% -22%
Milwaukee, WI 3,844 2,507 180 2,327 61% 3,737 1,747 284 1,463 39% -21%
Atlanta, GA 25,477 16,173 1,807 14,366 56% 23,545 11,385 3,126 8,259 35% -21%
New Orleans, LA 4,780 2,194 346 1,848 39% 4,149 1,166 425 741 18% -21%
Cleveland, OH 7,434 4,260 459 3,801 51% 5,664 2,504 741 1,763 31% -20%
Charlotte, NC 11,987 6,503 498 6,005 50% 9,864 4,186 960 3,226 33% -17%
Orlando, FL 11,118 6,446 917 5,529 50% 9,189 4,547 1,558 2,989 33% -17%
Miami, FL 57,390 15,748 4,940 10,808 19% 52,521 8,021 6,811 1,210 2% -17%
Indianapolis, IN 4,883 4,181 317 3,864 79% 4,042 3,067 520 2,547 63% -16%
San Antonio, TX 9,472 5,040 532 4,508 48% 8,419 3,590 931 2,659 32% -16%
Memphis, TN 2,925 1,960 244 1,716 59% 2,470 1,306 251 1,055 43% -16%
Oklahoma City, OK 4,793 3,219 369 2,850 59% 4,379 2,340 433 1,907 44% -16%
Tampa, FL 15,605 8,436 1,246 7,190 46% 12,313 5,872 2,093 3,779 31% -15%
Austin, TX 6,974 5,249 389 4,860 70% 5,709 4,080 910 3,170 56% -14%
Las Vegas, NV 11,617 6,093 871 5,222 45% 8,841 3,914 1,111 2,803 32% -13%
Nashville, TN 10,943 5,975 785 5,190 47% 10,208 4,394 867 3,527 35% -13%
Cincinnati, OH 7,757 4,404 359 4,045 52% 6,295 3,052 511 2,541 40% -12%
Raleigh, NC 6,591 3,674 209 3,465 53% 6,127 2,976 460 2,516 41% -12%
Birmingham, AL 4,934 2,437 265 2,172 44% 3,929 1,686 340 1,346 34% -10%
Portland, OR 7,263 5,318 381 4,937 68% 5,192 3,836 806 3,030 58% -10%
Jacksonville, FL 8,849 4,080 543 3,537 40% 7,388 3,350 906 2,444 33% -7%
Seattle, WA 7,034 8,900 457 8,443 120% 4,783 6,193 774 5,419 113% -7%
Virginia Beach, VA 6,875 3,882 428 3,454 50% 5,293 2,968 543 2,425 46% -4%
Phoenix, AZ 23,594 12,897 1,452 11,445 49% 15,426 10,604 2,325 8,279 54% 5%
Salt Lake City, UT 3,427 2,489 231 2,258 66% 1,587 1,429 286 1,143 72% 6%

This post first appeared on Redfin.com. To see the original, click here.