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Buyers Take Note: Housing Market Easing from White Hot to Red Hot

Slight softening in for-sale and rental markets spells relief for buyers and renters alike

- Monthly home value appreciation slowed for the first time since January, though it remains at near-record levels

- Inventory rose for the fourth month in a row, easing competition for buyers

- Rent growth pulled back from breakneck acceleration, though rents are nearly $200 higher than a year ago

Sep 16, 2021

SEATTLE, Sept. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Runaway monthly increases in home values and rents tempered in August, according to the latest Zillow® market report1, paving the way for a strong but more manageable housing market come fall. Another month of rising inventory and more for-sale listings taking price cuts are giving buyers more options and potentially less stress as they shop for their next home. 

Home value appreciation had been accelerating on a monthly basis since January but finally eased off the throttle, moderating from 1.97% month-over-month growth in July down to 1.75% growth in August. While this will be good news for buyers looking for any signs of relief, it still represents the third-largest monthly growth in Zillow records. 

"The strong recovery of inventory and initial lift off the gas pedal for home value appreciation is indicative of balance returning to the market," said Nicole Bachaud, economic data analyst at Zillow.  "But, the major demand drivers that have pushed the market to extremes this year are still present — we're moving from a white-hot midsummer to somewhere closer to red hot as we head into the fall."

The deceleration of home value growth is widespread, with 43 of the 50 largest major metros seeing appreciation slow down in August, compared to 20 in July. The largest drop-offs were in Buffalo, San Diego, San Francisco and Austin. 

Still, home values are up a record-breaking 17.7% ($45,557) from a year ago, bringing the typical U.S. home value to $303,288. Top metros for annual growth are Austin (44.8%), Phoenix (31.8%), Salt Lake City (27.9%) and San Diego (26.9%). 

Available housing inventory continued to rise for the fourth straight month, growing 4.1% over July and cutting the annual deficit to 22.7%, up from a low of -33% year over year low in April. For-sale listings rose the most month over month in the Midwest. Meanwhile, Austin and Washington, D.C., now have more available inventory than they did one year ago. 

The share of listings with a price cut rose for the fourth consecutive month, further evidence of a market returning to balance. The share of listings with a price cut grew 1.9 percentage points in August, with a total of 12.3% of listings in the U.S. seeing a price reduction before an offer is accepted. In August 2019, the total share was 17.4%. 

"Another month of rising for-sale inventory gives shoppers more options to choose from and less competition, which should help reduce bidding wars and further moderate rampant price hikes," Bachaud said. "A slightly less frenzied market means buyers have a much better chance to land the home they're bidding on, and may even see a price drop on their saved listings, but keep in mind the market is still much hotter than normal for this time of year."

Home sales have been rising monthly since March and continued to grow, with monthly sales ticking up slightly over July to stand 3.9% above last August. Looking forward, strong recent sales activity means Zillow economists are now expecting 5.93 million sales in 2021, a 5.1% increase over a historically strong 2020. 

In the rental market, monthly rent growth had been accelerating since January, but finally took a step back in August, decelerating to 1.7% growth in August from July's record-high 2%. Despite this, August's 11.5% annual appreciation is the largest in Zillow records going back to 2015. Typical U.S. rents measured by the Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI) are $1,874, nearly $200 higher than this time last year. 

Rents are up the most from last year across the Sun Belt, especially in Las Vegas (24.9%), Phoenix (24.8%), Tampa (24.7%) and Riverside (20.6%). Rents fell month over month in Kansas City and Richmond, and stayed flat in Cincinnati. 

Metropolitan Area*

Zillow Home
Value Index

(ZHVI)

ZHVI –
Year Over
Year
Change 

ZHVI –
Month
Over
Month
Change

Inventory –
MoM
Change

Zillow
Observed
Rent Index

(ZORI) 

ZORI –
Month
Over
Month
Change

United States

$303,288

17.7%

1.8%

4.1%

$1,874

1.7%

New York, NY

$561,677

14.0%

1.4%

0.4%

$2,693

1.7%

Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA

$837,312

19.4%

1.6%

2.1%

$2,630

2.0%

Chicago, IL

$282,568

14.0%

1.5%

3.7%

$1,721

0.9%

Dallas–Fort Worth, TX

$320,045

21.0%

2.6%

4.0%

$1,684

2.0%

Philadelphia, PA

$306,033

17.0%

1.2%

2.7%

$1,705

1.5%

Houston, TX

$263,096

16.8%

2.3%

4.8%

$1,519

1.1%

Washington, D.C.

$516,846

13.9%

0.7%

1.6%

$2,125

1.6%

Miami–Fort Lauderdale, FL

$364,216

16.4%

2.1%

-2.7%

$2,343

3.0%

Atlanta, GA

$308,095

21.5%

2.5%

3.6%

$1,827

3.0%

Boston, MA

$599,735

16.8%

1.3%

-1.0%

$2,532

0.7%

San Francisco, CA

$1,331,868

17.9%

1.5%

1.9%

$3,092

0.7%

Detroit, MI

$223,461

18.4%

1.5%

9.5%

$1,397

1.3%

Riverside, CA

$506,174

26.6%

2.7%

6.2%

$2,393

2.0%

Phoenix, AZ

$401,673

31.8%

2.5%

3.6%

$1,806

2.7%

Seattle, WA

$681,045

23.2%

2.0%

1.7%

$2,194

1.9%

Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN

$350,110

14.5%

1.2%

6.0%

$1,590

0.3%

San Diego, CA

$802,680

26.9%

1.9%

2.6%

$2,649

2.2%

St. Louis, MO

$218,878

15.8%

1.0%

4.8%

$1,191

0.5%

Tampa, FL

$303,374

25.9%

3.1%

4.2%

$1,876

3.8%

Baltimore, MD

$347,014

13.9%

1.0%

4.3%

$1,775

1.1%

Denver, CO

$563,145

21.5%

1.8%

5.4%

$1,903

1.6%

Pittsburgh, PA

$199,145

19.3%

0.9%

5.2%

$1,218

1.7%

Portland, OR

$523,642

19.9%

1.7%

3.5%

$1,773

1.5%

Charlotte, NC

$311,157

22.2%

2.6%

4.7%

$1,662

2.1%

Sacramento, CA

$554,083

25.2%

2.6%


$2,152

1.0%

San Antonio, TX

$256,183

18.5%

2.2%

3.5%

$1,374

2.6%

Orlando, FL

$314,117

16.6%

2.5%

2.5%

$1,798

3.0%

Cincinnati, OH

$232,065

16.9%

1.5%

7.1%

$1,356

0.0%

Cleveland, OH

$197,278

18.1%

1.3%

7.8%

$1,261

0.4%

Kansas City, MO

$253,659

18.2%

1.1%

5.0%

$1,262

-0.7%

Las Vegas, NV

$371,092

23.3%

2.6%

7.0%

$1,718

3.1%

Columbus, OH

$261,324

16.2%

1.2%

6.9%

$1,359

1.1%

Indianapolis, IN

$229,575

17.2%

1.4%

5.8%

$1,391

1.3%

San Jose, CA

$1,478,348

19.0%

1.5%

-0.8%

$3,126

1.4%

Austin, TX

$514,711

44.8%

3.2%

6.3%

$1,754

3.2%

Virginia Beach, VA

$288,446

13.6%

1.3%

2.2%

$1,527

1.5%

Nashville, TN

$356,137

18.6%

2.6%


$1,768

2.7%

Providence, RI

$403,984

20.8%

1.9%

6.2%

$1,785

0.7%

Milwaukee, WI

$252,643

17.4%

1.1%

7.7%

$1,192

1.4%

Jacksonville, FL

$294,471

21.5%

2.6%

3.9%

$1,629

2.7%

Memphis, TN

$194,724

16.9%

1.4%

5.2%

$1,535

1.1%

Oklahoma City, OK

$187,885

13.0%

1.4%

8.3%

$1,228

1.5%

Louisville–Jefferson County, KY

$215,947

13.6%

1.0%

8.0%

$1,145

0.2%

Hartford, CT

$291,015

17.5%

1.1%

2.3%

$1,604

0.4%

Richmond, VA

$291,685

13.4%

0.9%

1.7%

$1,429

-0.4%

New Orleans, LA

$243,248

12.2%

1.4%

4.6%

$1,319

1.9%

Buffalo, NY

$225,638

24.6%

1.3%

8.1%

$1,190

1.1%

Raleigh, NC

$363,693

23.4%

3.6%

1.5%

$1,647

2.5%

Birmingham, AL

$206,767

14.6%

1.5%

5.0%

$1,305

0.5%

Salt Lake City, UT

$532,411

27.9%

2.6%

7.2%

$1,584

0.5%

*Table ordered by market size 

1  The Zillow Real Estate Market Reports are monthly overviews of the national and local real estate markets. The reports are compiled by Zillow Real Estate Research. For more information, visit www.zillow.com/research. The data in the Zillow Real Estate Market Reports is aggregated from public sources by a number of data providers for 928 metropolitan and micropolitan areas, dating back to 1996. Mortgage and home loan data is typically recorded in each county and publicly available through a county recorder's office. All current monthly data at the national, state, metro, city, ZIP code and neighborhood levels can be accessed at www.zillow.com/research/data.

About Zillow Group

Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: Z and ZG) is reimagining real estate to make it easier to unlock life's next chapter. 

As the most visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow® and its affiliates offer customers an on-demand experience for selling, buying, renting or financing with transparency and nearly seamless end-to-end service. Zillow Offers® buys and sells homes directly in dozens of markets across the country, allowing sellers control over their timeline. Zillow Home Loans™, our affiliate lender, provides our customers with an easy option to get pre-approved and secure financing for their next home purchase. Zillow recently launched Zillow Homes Inc., a licensed brokerage entity, to streamline Zillow Offers transactions.  

Zillow Group's brands, affiliates and subsidiaries include Zillow®, Zillow Offers®, Zillow Premier Agent®, Zillow Home Loans™, Zillow Closing Services™, Zillow Homes Inc., Trulia®, Out East®, StreetEasy® and HotPads®. Zillow Home Loans LLC is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #10287 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). 

SOURCE Zillow

For further information: Mark Stayton, Zillow, press@zillow.com