January’s Nine Percent Drop in Real Estate Showing Activity Marks Sixth Consecutive Month of Year-Over-Year Declines

Daniil Cherkasskiy CHICAGO, IL  – If January is any indication, home sellers are bracing themselves for a tenuous start to 2019, as the first month of the year saw a nine percent drop across the U.S. in year-over-year residential showing activity, according to data from the ShowingTime Showing Index®. “Showing traffic continues to subside from last year's impressive heights,” said ShowingTime Chief Analytics Officer Daniil Cherkasskiy. “In January, we did not see an influx of home shoppers to reverse year-over-year declines in showings, which suggests that we may see slower traffic this spring compared to last year.”

In a notable contrast to January 2018, when the 12-month average year-over-year increase in showing traffic nationwide was 7.7 percent, January 2019 saw the 12-month average decline to almost one percent. 

The decrease in showing activity has been felt throughout the country but most noticeably in the West Region, which experienced an 18.8 percent year-over-year drop last month. 

The Midwest Region recorded a year-over-year decline of 12.4 percent in January, with the South Region not far behind with a year-over-year drop of 11.5 percent. The Northeast Region saw a more modest drop of 2.4 percent in January.

      

Key Points:

January showing traffic was down nine percent year over year in the U.S.; the West Region saw its 11th consecutive month of declines with an 18.8 percent year-over-year drop in showing activity A decline in showing traffic continued again in January for the Northeast (-2.4 percent), South (-11.5 percent) and Midwest regions (-12.4 percent), the fourth consecutive month where all regions saw a year-over-year drop

CONTACT:

Tom Denk 
tdenk@showingtime.com

research@showingtime.com.