Looking for a city that perfectly reflects the overall trends in real estate for 2023?
Try Pittsburgh.
In a somewhat cooling housing market (down a bit from the all-time high home values and sales of the past few years), Reed Pirain explains that Pittsburgh has remained competitive.
The average home cost is around $216,000, down under 1% compared to 2022. Homes are on the market in Pittsburgh for an average of around 70 days.
Those statistics mirror much of the changing housing market landscape in America for 2023. With median sale prices relatively steady and inventory still down, it’s becoming more and more of a buyer’s market — but not by much.
What will the real estate market look like through the rest of 2023? Here are some of the trends to expect this year.
Growing Inventory
Low inventory has characterized the U.S. real estate market for several years, reaching new heights during the COVID-19 pandemic when buyer demand shot through the roof.
That is set to change quite a bit. Since May 2022, there has been a slight upward trajectory for overall home inventory.
By late fall, there were record jumps in availability (as much as over 40% compared to the previous year), but there’s still a ways to go before inventory reaches the levels seen from 2017 to 2019.
New Favorite Locations
“Location, location, location” is still an accurate real estate sales mantra. Where those favorite locations are, however, is changing.
A continuing trend is the shift of top-ranked markets to western and southern regions away from the long-popular coastal areas.
The top metro areas of the past few years include Nashville, Dallas, and Atlanta. Charlotte, Raleigh, and Phoenix fell a bit in popularity, but are still among the top 10. Other frequent large-city favorites like Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles have also dipped in popularity during the same time frame.
Digital House Hunting
Are open houses a thing of the past? Traditional ones — those actually in person — may be. The pandemic only accelerated a trend in real estate rising over the past five years — house hunting virtually.
Yes, numerous buyers are getting a jump on the competition by committing to homes before they even set foot inside.
Among the most popular property sale platforms are drone videos, virtual staging, and 3D tours. On top of that, many mortgages can be handled solely online, and house hunters are getting in touch with residents of neighborhoods that are interested via social platforms such as Nextdoor.
Home Prices Stay High
Rises in inventory have lowered home prices a bit in some areas, but the high average cost of homes is still enduring. High costs that became the norm in 2020 have stayed put and are expected to stay high for the next three to five years.
The median home price was $350,000 in 2020, up 11% from 2019, and at the same time, the average home equity rose nearly 7%.
High costs do not seem to have deterred buyers in 2023 though, as sales rose by over 7% in January.
