With continual interest rate hikes made by the Federal Reserve beginning in 2022, housing markets across the United States have been experiencing significant disruptions in activity. And this disruption is particularly noticeable in the levels of available housing inventory. Over the course of one year, from 2022 to 2023, countless American housing markets have seen record high percentage increases in their available for-sale inventory. This build-up of homes for sale is a reflection of a slowdown in many housing markets across the nation.
Based on a list of American cities with populations of 200,000 or more, we analyzed 119 housing markets in terms of the change in their available housing inventory year-over-year. To get a more accurate picture of inventory, rather than using monthly inventory, we used a 12-month average — from March 2022 to February 2023 — for our analysis. All housing data was sourced from Redfin
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Read on to find out which cities have experienced the biggest growth in their available housing inventory over the last year.
Cities Where Housing Inventory Has Increased the Most
Looking at housing inventory change in percentage terms over the course of one year, the majority of cities that have experienced the largest one-year increase are primarily in the U.S. West and South regions. Aurora, Colorado, had a 12-month average housing inventory of 332 available homes for sale from March 2021 to February 2022. One year later, that 12-month average had risen by 115.6%, to 716 available homes for sale for the 12-month period from March 2022 to February 2023. Out of all the cities analyzed, Aurora’s one-year growth in housing inventory was the greatest.
Below are the top 10 cities that have experienced the greatest increase in housing inventory in the course of the last year:
- Aurora, Colorado: 115.6%
- North Las Vegas, Nevada: 98.3%
- Gilbert, Arizona: 79.4%
- Mesa, Arizona: 76.6%
- Spokane, Washington: 76.5%
- Spring Valley, Nevada: 74%
- Port St. Lucie, Florida: 71%
- Chandler, Arizona: 66.8%
- Enterprise, Nevada: 66%
- Henderson, Nevada: 63.4%
It must be said that, in many cases, these housing markets saw their housing inventories rebound to levels that were more common in pre-pandemic years. For example, Aurora’s housing inventory for the 12-month period March 2018 to February 2019 averaged 795 available homes for sale — not far off from its current level of 716 homes. It’s a similar case for North Las Vegas: Its 12-month average housing inventory from March 2022 to February 2023 is 950 available homes for sale; that’s up by 98.3% from 479 available homes for the period March 2021 to February 2022, but its current housing inventory is comparable to the 12-month period March 2017 to February 2018, when housing inventory was 936 available homes for sale.
Below is a table detailing the 12-month average housing inventories for these 10 cities from 2017 to now:
Trends Among Cities With Increasing Housing Inventory
There are some notable correlations between cities that have experienced large one-year increases in inventory and other housing data. For example, in Aurora, 45.9% of active listings have experienced price drops during the 12-month period March 2022 to February 2023. That’s the highest percentage of price drops in the Aurora housing market since 2017. North Las Vegas is similar, witnessing 33.2% of its active listings having price drops for the 12-month period March 2022 to February 2023. That figure is also the highest percentage of price drops since 2017.
Another metric, the median number of days on market before a home is bought up, correlates closely with the housing inventory build-up in these cities. In Aurora, the number of days on market increased from just 5.1 days in the 12-month period March 2021 to February 2022, to 17.3 days for the period March 2022 to February 2023. That’s equal to an increase of 241% in only one year. In North Las Vegas, the number of days on market rose by 119.9% over the same period, from 18.4 days for March 2021 to February 2022, to 40.5 days for March 2022 to February 2023. Gilbert, Arizona, too experienced a doubling of its median days on market: From 21.9 days on market for March 2021 to February 2022, to 44.1 days on market for March 2022 to February 2023 — a one-year increase of 101.1%.
Below is a table detailing the median days on market for the top 10 cities with the greatest growth in their housing inventories:
Table of Top 50 Cities Where Housing Inventory Has Increased the Most
Below you’ll find a table detailing the top 50 cities that experienced the largest one-year growth in their housing inventories. The table makes it very clear that, in geographic terms, the majority of cities are located in the western U.S.: