New-home listings declined significantly in October even as increased demand continued to drive faster sales times and higher prices, according to Redfin.
New listings fell 6.9% year over year, the largest such drop since December 2012, Redfin said Thursday. Similarly, the inventory of homes for sale declined for the 13th consecutive month with an 8.6% year-over-year decrease, the largest since May 2013.
At the same time, the median sales price of a home rose 7% from October 2015, the most since last December, to $269,200. There were six Florida markets among the top gainers in home price appreciation including Deltona, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and Lakeland.
"While the October market rewarded sellers, their gains came at a cost," said Redfin Chief Economist Nela Richardson. "With no new supply surge on the horizon, finding an affordable home will continue to be an unrelenting challenge for first-time buyers for the remainder of the year and into 2017."
Nationwide, homes spent a median of 49 days on the market, which was five fewer than a year ago. More than a fifth of homes went under contract within two weeks during October, while another fifth sold for more than the asking price.
Despite these metrics indicating strong competition, the number of homes sold actually shrank 3.2% after two months of double-digit upticks.
