• The typical U.S. home sold in just 16 days in September, down from 17 in August and 28 days in September 2019. Among the 50 largest markets, homes sold fastest in Columbus, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Indianapolis (all in five days or less), and slowest in Nashville (36 days),  New York (28), Virginia Beach (28), and San Antonio (27).
• Entry-level and mid-market U.S. homes (priced from $186,000-$344,000) sold fastest, at 14 and 16 days, respectively. The most-expensive U.S. homes ($488,000 and up) took the longest to sell, at 33 days (down from 47 a year ago).
• This year’s housing market is defying conventional seasonal patterns, with the median time a home spent on the market in September — a time when the market usually begins to slow — at its lowest point of the year. The gap between the number of days it took to sell the least-expensive and most-expensive homes in September was also narrower last month compared to late spring than in prior years.

Homes nationwide and across all price ranges sold, in many cases, just days after hitting the market in September, scooped up by eager buyers facing incredibly low inventory and keeping sellers in control of a housing market that continues to defy conventional, seasonal norms.

The typical U.S. home sold in September went under agreement after slightly more than two weeks (16 days), down from almost a month in September 2019 (28 days), or about 44% faster than a year ago, the fastest recorded in monthly data going back to December 2017 and down from 17 days in August. Among the nation’s 50 largest markets, homes sold fastest in September in Columbus, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Indianapolis, with homes in each market going under agreement five days or less after hitting the market.

In 37 of the nation’s 50 largest metros, homes typically sold faster in September than in August. And in 31 of those large markets, the median days on market for the typical home fell by at least 50% — in other words, homes sold twice as quickly or faster — in September 2020 compared to September 2019. The September acceleration bucks typical seasonal trends that generally show the market beginning to slow in September as the weather cools, children go back to school and the busy spring/summer home shopping season wanes. 

But 2020 is not a normal year, with the traditional home shopping season delayed and pushed back by the ongoing pandemic. Many buyers are also likely re-evaluating their options in light of increased work-from-home options and/or atypical home-schooling setups that may require more space or make different home amenities — a home office or bigger yard, for example — more desirable.

And speedier sales were common essentially regardless of price. Nationwide, entry-level and mid-priced homes — those priced in the 20th-40th percentile and 40th-60th percentile of all homes, or between $186,000 and $344,000 — sold the fastest, at 14 and 16 days, respectively, down from 20 and 23 a year ago. The least-expensive U.S. homes, priced in the bottom 20% of all homes ($185,999 or less), typically took 18 days to sell, down from 23 a year ago.

Moving up the price ladder, homes priced between the 60th and 80th percentile ($344,001-$487,999) typically sold in 20 days, down from 30 a year ago. The most-expensive U.S. homes, ($488,000 and up), typically went under agreement in 33 days — 14 days faster than September 2019. It is common for the most-expensive homes to stay on the market longer: There are simply fewer buyers that can afford progressively more-expensive homes. But the spread in days on market between the most expensive homes and the least expensive homes is tightening, indicating broad demand throughout the market.

In September 2020, the bottom 20% of homes by sale price sold 15 days faster than the top 20% of homes by sale price, down 9 days from September 2019, when the least-expensive homes sold 24 days faster than the most expensive homes. The spread between the top of the market and bottom of the market is typically tightest in May, and by September, it usually widens by at least 10 days (it typically takes 10 days more to sell higher-priced homes in September compared to May). But in another indication of the unusual seasonal trends we’re observing this year, in September 2020 it took five more days to sell the most-expensive homes (relative to the least expensive homes) than it did in May.

And in many markets, the spread between days on market for the most-expensive and least-expensive homes is even tighter.  There was effectively no difference in days on market between the top and bottom price tiers in Salt Lake, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco, where the bottom 20% of homes sold just 2 days faster than the top 20% of homes.  One market that stands out is Buffalo, where the bottom 20% of homes (<$95,000) sold 34 days slower than the top 20% of homes (>$311,000). Buffalo is the only metro analyzed where the most expensive homes sold faster than the least-expensive homes.

Among the 50 largest metros, homes in Nashville typically stayed on the market longest in September, a median of 36 days, up 7 days (22%) from September 2019.  Nashville is the only metro in the top 50 where homes stayed on the market longer in September 2020 than September 2019.  New York (28 days), Virginia Beach (28 days), and San Antonio (27 days) are other metros where homes stayed on the market longest in September 2020.

Methodology

The days on market figures reported in this analysis reflect monthly counts using a smoothed, three-month trailing average of raw medians.  The days on market figures by tier are computed by taking the median days on market for homes within each quintile by sale price, which are computed monthly.  National figures are computed as an inventory-weighted average of the state-level median days on market, which is necessary for computational considerations. Medians reported in this brief may slightly differ from productionalized monthly series due to minor differences in smoothing and weighting methodology over time and tiers.