Housing Inventories at their Lowest Point in 3 years; OZ Implications

According to Realtor.com’s just released study, housing inventories dropped 12% nationally from 2018 to 2019, the largest year-over-year decline in nearly three years.

The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area had one of the highest rates of inventory decline in the U.S. , with active listings in the region falling 26.3% over the last year.

The median listing price for a home in the Philadelphia area was $288,250 as of December, much lower than many other surveyed metropolitan areas. That said, the Philadelphia MSA had one of the highest increases in home prices of all the MSA’s measured, up 13.1% from 2018.

According to the study the market has a large housing inventory undersupply just as 4.8 Million millennials are reaching 30 years of age, a prime time for many to purchase a home.

Also, not a shocker that with less inventory for sale pricing tends to go up which can result in more homelessness in a region as there is less housing that people can afford.

According to the study, the biggest declines in active listings occurred in these 10 markets nationally:

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.: -33.1% (Median listing price: $1,074,750)
2. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.: -31.8% (Median listing price: $582,000)
3. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.: -30.4% (Median listing price: $897,000)
4. Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif.: -29.5% (Median listing price: $495,000)
5. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ: -29% (Median listing price: $374,495)
6. San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.: 28.3% (Median listing price: $719,444)
7. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del: -26.3% (Median listing price: $288,250)
8. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.: -24.7% (Median listing price: $304,000)
9. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W. Va.: -24.3% (Median listing price: $470,000)
10. Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass: -23.8% (Median listing price: $369,900)

Of note is that many of these MSA’s have large Opportunity Zone tracts which could be prime sites for rental properties or for sale housing where a buyer could take advantage of capital gains to invest in such a property and obtain the benefits of the OZ if it held such property for 10 years or more and sold thereafter before 12-31-2047.

If you have questions or thoughts regarding OZs, please drop us a note and we would be happy to discuss your concerns. -Brad A. Molotsky

© 2009- Duane Morris LLP. Duane Morris is a registered service mark of Duane Morris LLP.

The opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and are not to be construed as legal advice.

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