The hottest Local Markets Substack posts right now

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CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 229 implied HN points • 06 Mar 26
  1. Existing home sales look to be flat or slightly down year‑over‑year, with early-reporting markets showing about a 2.9% drop and sales well below February 2019 levels.
  2. New listings and active inventory are rising — new listings were up roughly 5.5% year‑over‑year and active inventory climbed about 12%, so more supply is coming onto the market.
  3. Local conditions vary: Las Vegas is seeing slower sales, lower prices and rising inventory, while the Pacific Northwest has transactions down around 3% and listings up about 28% even as mortgage rates sit near 6.1%.
CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 62 implied HN points • 26 Jan 26
  1. The NAR moved to an earlier monthly reporting schedule, which reduces the early sample available for projections and makes larger revisions to reported sales more likely.
  2. Inventory is rising — active single-family listings are up week-over-week and substantially up year-over-year, suggesting inventory may have bottomed early and that the usual spring pickup in March could be stronger.
  3. Sales and new listings remain muted overall — December showed small YoY gains on an unadjusted basis but 2025 had the weakest annual sales since 1995, and new listings are still well below 2019 levels in many markets.
CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 28 implied HN points • 12 Jan 26
  1. December existing home sales look mostly unchanged year‑over‑year, and 2025 may end up as one of the weakest sales years since 1995.
  2. Inventory and listing trends are mixed: new listings were down about 4.5% year‑over‑year while active inventory was up roughly 9–10% YoY, with both measures still differing from 2019 levels.
  3. December closings mainly reflect contracts signed in October and November when mortgage rates averaged about 6.25%, and working‑day/seasonal adjustments can noticeably change the reported year‑over‑year results.
CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 23 implied HN points • 07 Jan 26
  1. 2025 saw one of the weakest years for existing home sales since 1995 and could be the lowest year on record since then.
  2. Early December data show a small year‑over‑year rise in sales in early‑reporting markets, but new listings fell about 9.6% while active inventory climbed about 12.7%.
  3. Compared with December 2019, new listings and sales are much lower (new listings down about 28%) while inventory is much higher in most areas, and mortgage rates around 6.25% in Oct–Nov likely restrained buyer activity.
CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 14 implied HN points • 17 Dec 25
  1. California sales reached their highest pace since September 2022, up about 2.6% year‑over‑year on a seasonally adjusted basis, but statewide sales still sit below the 300,000‑unit benchmark and the median price fell month‑to‑month while remaining roughly flat year‑over‑year.
  2. In the local markets sampled, closed sales were down about 7.1% year‑over‑year on a not‑seasonally‑adjusted basis, and early data suggest national November existing‑home sales may be unchanged or down slightly year‑over‑year.
  3. Supply is building unevenly: active inventory was up roughly 9.8% year‑over‑year while new listings fell about 4.6%, with wide regional differences and a slowing pace of inventory growth (California’s unsold inventory index near 3.6 months).
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CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 14 implied HN points • 12 Dec 25
  1. Home sales in the sampled local markets cooled in November, down about 5.7% year‑over‑year and still well below November 2019 levels; seasonally adjusted national sales look to be flat or slightly down.
  2. New listings fell about 6.1% year‑over‑year in November after rising the prior month, and remain roughly 16% below October 2019 activity.
  3. Active inventory was up about 9.8% year‑over‑year, but the change is uneven across regions — much higher in places like Denver and Phoenix and lower in areas such as Grand Rapids and San Diego.
CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 9 implied HN points • 09 Dec 25
  1. Home sales in early-reporting markets fell sharply year‑over‑year (around 10.8%), though seasonally adjusted national figures may show only a small decline or be roughly flat because of seasonal factors and one fewer working day.
  2. New listings were down year‑over‑year (about 3.5%) and remain well below pre‑pandemic activity, roughly 21% lower than October 2019.
  3. Active inventory rose about 19.4% year‑over‑year, but there are large regional differences — some markets like Denver are up sharply while others like San Diego are down.
CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 43 implied HN points • 11 Feb 25
  1. The report looks at various local housing markets across the US for January. It compares this year's data with data from January 2019.
  2. The analysis includes information about active listings, new listings, and closed sales in these markets.
  3. The newsletter encourages readers to subscribe for more detailed insights and data on the housing markets.
CalculatedRisk Newsletter • 33 implied HN points • 15 Mar 24
  1. The closed sales in February were mostly for contracts signed when mortgage rates were lower than in the previous months. This signifies a trend of lower mortgage rates impacting sales.
  2. Active inventory in February showed mixed trends with some areas experiencing significant year-over-year increases in inventory while others saw decreases compared to 2019.
  3. New listings in February were up year-over-year, but still remained at historically low levels. Most areas reported lower new listings compared to January 2019.