Housing Market Showed No Signs of Slowdowns in October

As the temperature dropped amid the seasonal change, homebuying did not. Realtor.com’s October Housing Trends Report found sales activity remained at record levels. And for the first time since 2011, homes actually sold faster in October than in September. Prices did not budge either and stayed at the summer peak of $350,000. Typically, the selling season begins to wilt in October but homes sold 13 days faster compared to one year ago, according to Forbes. Homes sold roughly 20 days faster than usual in three specific markets: Hartford, Conn., Virginia Beach, Va. and San Diego.

Looking at the numbers. The national median listing price continued to rise. That year-over-year increase was 12.2 percent, to $350,000 in October. That’s up from September’s median price which had double-digit growth at 11.1 percent compared to last September.

The highest median price listing gains were in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. In the Los Angeles metro, the median listing price grew 16.9 percent from a year ago to $995,100. It’s not surprising with the active listing count down almost 23 percent. Consider that median price is just that which doesn’t buy you much house in the desirable areas of Los Angeles.

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