Rent rates nationwide have been decreasing since the onset of the pandemic, but new data shows that in some cities, this could be changing in the near future.

With the lowest level of inventory in nearly 40 years, the 2021 spring market has homebuyers facing a level of competition not seen in a generation.

As they come of peak age for first-time homeownership, millennials are gaining an increasing share of today’s housing market.

The median sales price of homes across 53 metro areas rose to record highs in March, topping $300,000. In Houston, the median sales price rose 4.7% between February and March to $288,000.

Privately-owned housing starts jumped 19.4% from February’s revised estimate to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,739,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development

Forty-three percent of respondents to the first-quarter Zillow Home Price Expectations survey expect inventory to improve in the second half of the year, followed by 26% who expect it in the first half of 2022.

Homes listed on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday are selling for more than those listed on the weekend, but how much varies by metro area.

A combination of a lack of inventory for low-priced homes, aggressive shopping among high-end homes and historically low interest rates led to a surge in the sales of single-family homes in March.

The housing supply shortage is expected to get more extreme as homebuyer demand continues to outweigh inventory levels, a new study found.

Who had the 10 most expensive deals in the Houston area in March?

Rising wages and falling mortgage rates are helping keep homeownership within reach of average wage earners nationwide despite surges in housing prices.

The data are skewed because it was at this time last year that the coronavirus pandemic forced the real estate business to go into lockdown until it was deemed an essential service.

Prices in the Houston metro area were up 6.3% over February 2020. CoreLogic classified Houston’s market as “overvalued.”

Houston wasn’t the only Texas city to make the list. The Lone Star State has five of them on the list, including No. 1 ranked Midland. 

“The demand for a home purchase is widespread, multiple offers are prevalent, and days-on-market are swift, but contracts are not clicking due to record-low inventory.” — NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun

Much of the year-over-year increase in home sales was supported by continued robust activity in the Southeast, which saw a 20.2% rise to an annual rate of 458,000 transactions.