Urban For-Sale Markets Keeping Pace With the Suburbs, With Two Key Exceptions

"Are people fleeing the cities for greener suburban pastures? Some faint signals may have emerged in certain places, but by and large, the data show that suburban housing markets have not strengthened at a disproportionately rapid pace compared to urban markets," according to recent data and analysis from Zillow [emphasis from the original].

Both suburban and urban markets are described by the report as hot sellers' markets, as explained by "about the same share of homes selling above their list price, similar  changes in the typical time homes spend on the market before an offer is accepted, and recent improvements in newly pending sales have been about the same across each region type," according to the executive summary of the "Zillow 2020 Urban-Suburban Market Report." 

Moreover, "Changes in annual home value growth rates from just before the pandemic to now have been about the same for urban and suburban markets. In some regions where there is a divergence, the discrepancy can be explained by trends that were unfolding before the pandemic."

As for the exceptions noted in the first passage quoted above, urban cores in New York City and San Francisco are not keeping pace with hot suburban submarkets, according to the report. "In Manhattan, home values have dropped 4.2% since last year and homes are staying on the market two months longer than a year ago, According to StreetEasy’s July Market Report. In San Francisco, list prices have fallen 4.9% year over year and inventory has risen 96% with a flood of new listings."