Strong December Home Sales,
Big Second Half of 2020
Set the Stage for Potentially Historic 2021

December home sales increased 6.2% over November and 21.9% year-over-year, capping a record-breaking second half of 2020 that set new overall monthly benchmarks for most sales, highest price, lowest inventory and quickest closings.

Although December is typically a month with fewer sales, December 2020 ranked 5th in highest number of home sales for the year – and its sales exceeded all but two months of 2019.

Down 17.9% from November 2020 and 33.0% from December 2019, December 2020 established a record low for inventory in the 13-year history of the report. It also set multiple new December records:

• Average Days on Market of 37, over two weeks less than the 53 days a year ago.
• Median Sales Price of $290,000 – up 9.4% year-over-year.
• Months of Supply of Inventory at 1.8, which was less than half of December 2019’s 3.9.

After the pandemic’s initial impact on the housing market last spring and early summer, 2020 ultimately posted a number of highlights in the report’s history:

• Home Sales: 5 of the top 10 months of sales since 2008 occurred in 2020 – July (the new record), August, September, October and December
• Inventory: 7 of the top 10 months with the lowest inventory; August through December became the five lowest months in report history, with each month’s inventory lower than the previous month’s
• Days on Market: 5 of the top 10 months with the report’s fewest Days on Market; September through December comprise the four months with the fastest average time for listing to sale
• Median Sales Price: 9 of the top 10 months with the highest Median Sales Price; at $290,000, August, November and December tied with the highest mark in report history

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