Real Estate Statistics To Know In 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted real estate in the last two years as mortgage rates reached all-time lows, supply chain disruptions slowed manufacturing and offices sat empty through quarantine.

We’re continuing to uncover how the industry has changed with new real estate statistics and expert insights on what’s to come. We’ve gathered the latest real estate data and housing market insights you need to know in 2022.

Key Findings:

• Mortgage rates increased to 5.1% in April 2022, and interest rates have grown to 4.17% as of March 2022.
• Existing home inventories reached a low of 726,000 in 2021.
• The real estate industry contracted 6.4% between 2019 and 2020, with a total industry value of $461.7 billion in 2020.
• Experts estimate the industry will grow 3.8% annually between 2021 and 2025, reaching $561.9 billion in 2025.
• The U.S. real estate industry employed 1.77 million people in 2021.
• Real estate agents earn a mean $61,480 salary as of May 2021.
• Real estate agents and brokers have a gender wage gap of 30.7%.

Housing Market Statistics

Record-low mortgage rates in 2020 and 2021 encouraged thousands of Americans to start house hunting. However, existing home inventory lows that haven’t been seen since the 1980s meant high competition and skyrocketing home prices.

• The average 30-year mortgage rate is increasing in 2022 following record lows in 2021, reaching 5.1% as of April 28, 2022.¹
• Existing home sales decreased 2.4% between February 2021 and 2022 as a result of increased mortgage rates and home prices, combined with limited inventory.²
• The number of housing units for sale is at its lowest since the 1980s, with just 726,000 units available in 2021.³
• Seasonally adjusted home prices increased 18.2% year over year as of December 2021.²
• Existing home inventories have steadily decreased since 2008, with a sharp decline in 2020. The housing inventory in Q1 2022 was 667,000 – a 29.5% decline since Q1 2020.⁴

• The median down payment for all housing types was 12% in 2019. Planned unit development had the lowest median down payment at $25,000, compared to manufactured homes with the highest median payment of $39,141.³
• A primary reason Americans moved in 2021 (17.2%) was to access better or larger housing.⁵
• The desire to become a homeowner is the number one reason Americans bought homes in 2021 at 28%.³

Real Estate Market Statistics By City And State

Real estate trends vary across the U.S. as each state’s housing affordability, competition and real estate laws vary. Learn more about housing across states and metropolitan areas below.

• Over 16% of movers in 2021 transitioned to a new state, while 23.7% stayed in the same state and moved to a new county.⁵
• Rhode Island residents make the largest median down payment at $65,817, followed by the District of Columbia ($63,537) and Hawaii ($51,499).³
• Arizona, Utah and Idaho saw the largest changes in single-family home prices at 27% year-over-year.³
• Idaho is one of the best states for investment real estate, with an average property appreciation of 34.6% and a cost of living 2% below the national average.⁶

Real Estate Agent Statistics

Real estate agents are an invaluable part of a property-buying team. Recent statistics show wages increasing across real estate niches as more people invest in their real estate licenses.

• More than 2 million real estate agents were actively working in 2019.⁷
• Over 156,000 people became real estate agents in 2020 and 2021 combined.⁸
• Average real estate wages increased 3.3% between 2013 and 2020, reaching $54,400 a year.⁹
• Real estate agents earn an average $61,480 a year as of May 2021.¹⁰
• Property, real estate and community managers are the highest earners in the real estate industry, averaging $69,399 a year.⁹

• Real estate agents and brokers have a gender wage gap of 30.7%. Men earn a median $1,352 a week, while women in the field earn $937 a week.⁹
• Florida (25,030), Texas (22,720) and California (14,800) employ the most real estate agents in the U.S.¹⁰
• Real estate agents in Massachusetts ($90,390), New York ($81,020) and Wyoming ($80,580) earn the highest average salaries.¹⁰
• Oil and gas industry real estate agents earn the highest salary with a mean hourly wage of $59.02.¹⁰
• It takes up to 6 months to become a licensed real estate agent depending on your state’s requirements.¹¹

Real Estate Investing Statistics

The potential to earn huge returns in real estate is also on the rise as property prices increase. Industrial real estate offers the largest growth opportunities, followed by residential real estate investments.

• The real estate industry generated $461.7 billion in revenue in 2020 despite a negative industry growth of 6.4% between 2019 and 2020.⁹
• Real estate revenue is estimated to increase 3.8% annually between 2021 and 2025, reaching $561.9 billion in 2025.⁹
• One-third (34%) of U.S. homes are occupied by renters. Almost 44 million homes are renter occupied, compared to 83 million owner-occupied homes.³
• Rental vacancies are on the decline, with the Southern U.S. experiencing the highest vacancy rates (7%) and the West with less than 3% vacancy.³
• Multifamily building permits are at a 20-year high with 492,000 permits awarded in 2020.³

• The real estate industry generated $461.7 billion in revenue in 2020 despite a negative industry growth of 6.4% between 2019 and 2020.⁹
• Real estate revenue is estimated to increase 3.8% annually between 2021 and 2025, reaching $561.9 billion in 2025.⁹
• One-third (34%) of U.S. homes are occupied by renters. Almost 44 million homes are renter occupied, compared to 83 million owner-occupied homes.³
• Rental vacancies are on the decline, with the Southern U.S. experiencing the highest vacancy rates (7%) and the West with less than 3% vacancy.³
• Multifamily building permits are at a 20-year high with 492,000 permits awarded in 2020.³

Home Buying Statistics

Home affordability is decreasing as mortgage rates and housing prices increase. A majority of adults report that they can’t afford half of the houses available, and limited inventory has increased competition for wishful home buyers.

• Home buying affordability decreased 11.5% in 2021, and rental affordability decreased 7.5%.³
• Interest rates have increased to 4.17% in March 2022. The annual average in 2021 was 2.96%.¹
• Nearly half of baby boomers (48%) say they struggled to find a home in 2021 due to high home prices. Millennials reported the least struggle of all generations at 34%.³
• Over 70% of adults across generations say they couldn’t afford a majority of homes for sale in 2021.³
• The median mortgage debt in the U.S. is $136,500. The average mortgage debt is $176,700.¹³

New House Sales

As existing home inventories shrunk, new home and manufactured home sales increased in 2021. Supply chain issues and rising mortgage rates did set growth back heading into 2022, and builder confidence has begun to decline.

• New single-family home sales decreased 12.6% between March 2021 and 2022 to 763,000.¹⁴
• The median sales price for new single-family homes was $397,100 in 2021. The average sales price was $464,200.¹⁴
• New manufactured homes sold for an average of $111,900 in November 2021 – a 20.8% increase from 2020.¹⁵
• New home sales reached a peak at 1.28 million units sold in 2005. After a decline in the 2010s, new home sales rose again in 2020 (822,000) as existing home inventories were limited.³
• Supply chain disruptions and rising inflation and mortgage rates have dampened builder confidence to 77 points in April 2022. This indicates an overall positive outlook, but a decrease from 2021.¹⁶

• Manufactured homes are most popular in Texas, Florida and North Carolina.¹⁴
• Texas received 17.4% of manufactured home shipments in 2021.¹⁴
• Hawaii received just five manufactured homes in 2021 – the fewest of the 51 U.S. states and Washington D.C.¹⁴

The Bottom Line

The industry has seen significant fluctuations over the last several years, and real estate statistics give us a clearer picture of where the industry is headed. While housing costs and inventory have made shopping tough on home buyers, real estate remains a valuable investment and growing career opportunity for real estate agents and property managers.

Learn how much home you can afford given today’s mortgage rates if you’re looking to buy.

Sources:

1. Freddie Mac, 2022

2. HUD, March 2022

3. Statista, 2022

4.FRED, 2022

5.Census, 2021

6.MPA, 2021

7.Homelight, 2019

8.The Real Deal, 2022

9.Statista, 2021

10.BLS, 2021

11.Investopedia, 2021

12.MSCI, 2022

13.Census, 2019

14.Census, 2022

15.Census, 2021

16.NAHB, 2022