The dollar amount that homes sold above list price rose in November
By Patrick Kearns | Dec 16, 2021
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The average dollar amount that U.S. homes sold above initial list price increased from October to November, the first month-to-month increase since July, according to data from real estate technology company OJO Labs.
U.S. homes, in November, sold for an average of $4,277 above list price across the nation’s top 50 metro areas, compared to $3,411 the month prior. Still, it’s far ahead of the discount at which homes were selling below list price in the same month in 2020. In November 2020, homes were selling at $3,521 below initial list price, according to data compiled from OJO Labs residential home search site Movoto by OJO.
Despite the increase in dollar amount, the percentage of homes that sold above list price did decline for a fifth consecutive month. 41.4% of homes were sold above list price in November in the nation’s top 50 metro areas by the number of homes sold, compared to 42% in October. In November 2020, only 32% of homes were selling above list price — far below last month’s total. However, the year-over-year gulf continues to shrink.
San Francisco, the nation’s most competitive metro, also saw competition further increase from October to November. The percentage of homes that were sold above list price climbed from 69.8% to 71.4%, while the average amount that homes were sold over list price jumped from $96,998 to $107,403.
Tracking behind San Francisco was its neighbor to the south, Los Angeles, which saw 55.5% of homes sell for above list price in November — essentially unchanged from the month prior. The static competition metric moved Los Angeles from the fifth most competitive metro in October to the second most competitive in November. The average amount that homes were sold for above list price in Los Angeles ticked up from $6,032 to $8,208 from October to November.
Boston, Massachusetts; Buffalo, New York; and San Diego, California rounded out the top five most competitive markets in terms of the percentage of homes sold above list price in November. Buffalo was the only of the top five metros in terms of competitiveness that saw the average dollar amount for which homes were sold above list price decrease.
At the other end of the spectrum, Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, Virginia, remained the nation’s least competitive metro area with just 5.6% of homes sold above list price in November.
Interestingly, Boise, Idaho, despite being one of the nation’s least affordable metro areas, was the second least competitive metro area in the nation. Only 21.4% of Boise homes were sold above list price in November, down from 26.5% the month before — and way below the 41.5% of homes that were sold above list price in November 2021. At this time last year, Boise was 38 spots higher on the list of the top 50 most competitive markets in the U.S.
Following right on Boise’s heels is Miami, Florida, similarly one of the nation’s least affordable metro areas, according to an OJO Labs analysis of home sold data and median household income. Miami, however, has classically not been a super competitive market in terms of homes selling above list price. In November, 22.7% of homes were sold above list price in Miami, compared to 23.7% the month prior and 13.2% in November 2021.