More Competition as Home Supply Dwindles

Especially in the Bay Area. But you already knew that. Redfin found that since 2001, the average amount of time homeowners stayed in their current residence more than doubled from 4 to 10 years, creating less opportunity for first-time home buyers. Low rates and improving economic conditions boosted demand in 2015, but also caused homeowners to refinance under historically favorable terms and to invest in improvements rather than move. 

Here are some Bay Area highlights of Redfin's findings:

• San Francisco ($960,000), San Jose ($765,000), and Orange County, Calif. ($599,000) had the highest median sale prices in the nation.
• San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland were the only three metro regions that continued to see the average home sell above asking price in January.  The average home in San Francisco sold for 3.7% above asking price.
• Oakland, Seattle, and Portland had the shortest supply of homes relative to demand, with 1.2, 1.7, and 1.8 months of supply.