HousingWire

Buyer foot traffic posts highest monthly increase in the history of the index

Home showing traffic kicked off 2023 with a bang, according to data released Tuesday by ShowingTime. Between December 2022 and January 2023, ShowingTime’s Showing Index posted its largest monthly increase ever, jumping from a reading of 117.9 to a reading of 190.8 in January.

Despite this large jump, the index was still down 24.3% year over year. In December, the index was down 32.2% year over year.

All four of the major U.S. regions posted month-over-month increases in January, with the Northeast recording the largest monthly jump at 67.5%, followed by the West (65.5%), the Midwest (63%) and the South (49.5%). Even with these sizable monthly increases, all four regions still had lower buyer foot traffic in January 2023 compared to January 2022, with the West down the most year over year at 52%.

“It’s typical to see a seasonal increase in home showings in January as buyers get ready for the spring market, but a larger increase than any January before after last year’s rapid cooldown is significant,” Mike Lane, the vice president of sales and industry for ShowingTime+, said in a statement. “Mortgage rate activity this spring will play a big role in sales activity, but January’s home showings are a positive sign that buyers are getting back out there and the housing market is heading toward a new, more sustainable ‘normal.’”

The majority of the 25 metro areas analyzed had an average of between four and nine showings per listing, which is up from a range of two to seven in December. In addition, all of the metro areas posted month-over-month increases in showing traffic, with Seattle posting the largest increase at 56%. Also, with a ratio of 10.16 showings per listing, Seattle was the only metro area analyzed to see double-digit showings per listing.

Year over year, all metro areas posted declines, the largest being Denver (9.63 showings per listing) at 62% and the smallest being Chicago (8.49) at 13%.