Housing Inventory Is Slowly Returning to Normal: An ‘Incredible Trend,’ Economists Say
The overall number of homes for sale in May marks seven months of growth, according to the latest monthly housing report from Realtor.com®. This will leave those willing to brave today’s high mortgage rate delighted to find that they have plenty of homes to consider.
“The biggest eye-catcher for me is the fact that inventory is rising sharply,” says Realtor.com senior economist Ralph McLaughlin. “There are 35.2% more homes on the market than this time last year, an incredible trend in the direction of normality.”
“While the housing market is still in the seller’s territory, it is expected to shift in a buyer-friendly direction as mortgage rates resume their decline over the next year and the number of homes for sale increases,” says Realtor.com economic data manager Sabrina Speianu.
According to NY Post, As is typical in the housing market’s warmer months, the national median list price continued to increase seasonally by 0.3% to $442,500 in May, compared with $430,000 in April. (Last year’s May median list price was $441,000.)
Moderately steady home prices are due to a rising number of affordable homes hitting the market.
“The inventory of lower-priced homes is rising faster than other segments,” says McLaughlin. “There are 46.6% more homes on the market in the $200,000 to $350,000 range, something inventory and price-constrained buyers will surely welcome.”
In addition to the list price, buyers and sellers might want to examine the median list price per square foot, which rose by 52.7% this May compared with May 2019.
