Realtor.com Releases Housing Market Index for Week Ending July 4

Tracking web traffic is one of the main ways analysts look at to determine things like company growth and consumer behavior. Now more than ever, traffic is an important glimpse into predicting the future of markets across the world during this pandemic. 

Realtor.com has reported that its monthly traffic has spiked to 86 million unique users last month. A personal record for the company. 

In the week ending July 4, the Housing Market Recovery Index hit 97.8 across the United States, the largest increase since the index began in June. 

When it comes to median listing prices, they’re growing at 6.2% year-over-year, which is faster than pre-COVID numbers. 

The slowest aspect of the recovery is inventory. We’ve covered the major issue of inventories failing to keep up with the number of interested buyers before. On realtor.com, listings are 31% lower year-over-year. 

Javier Vivas, Director of Economic Research for realtor.com, said:

“The consistent, record-level home buyer interest we’ve detected on realtor.com over the last five weeks is setting up the tightest summer home-buying season on record.

“All-time low mortgage rates and easing job losses have boosted buyer confidence back to pre-pandemic levels.

“With supply at record lows, the backlog of demand portends increased competition and a seller’s market in the weeks ahead. While buyers are back, growth in home sales this summer will be constrained by the slow return of sellers and the limited amount of homes hitting the market.”

Regional recovery specifics:

• West: Leading in recovery with the overall index visibly above the pre-COVID benchmark.
• Northeast: Index of 102.1
• South: Index of 96.4
• Midwest: Index of 95.4

The Cities with the greatest recovery are:

• Boston
• San Francisco
• Denver
• Philadelphia
• Los Angeles