More Choices for Buyers as Inventory Recovery ContinuesBy RISMedia Staff
In a signal of the housing market’s continued rebalancing, the supply of homes for sale rose at a record annual pace of 67.8% in February, the sixth month in a row, according to a new report from Realtor.com. In addition, home price growth, while continuing to rise, slowed to a pace of 7.8%, a sign of still-high hopes from home sellers entering the market.
Realtor.com’s Monthly Housing Trends Report for February found that the median listing price grew to $415,000, up 40.1% from 2019. Active listings were down 47.5% from 2019, and new listings fell 15.9%. Median days on the market rose by 23 days to 67, down 17 days from 2019. The share of active listings with price reductions grew 7.6 percentage points to 13.3%, down 2.7 percentage points from 2019, with southern metros (+10.3 percentage points) seeing the largest increase in the share of listings with price reductions. Key highlights:
“In a market with conditions that don’t particularly favor buyers or sellers, both will likely have to make compromises to make a deal happen,” said the author of the report. “As mortgage rates continue to fluctuate and increase the cost of buying a home, it’s important for sellers to price their home appropriately to attract buyers in the market. For buyers, it’s critical they make the best offer they can on a home that fits their needs and budget.” Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Realtor.com, commented that “The number of homes for sale on the market is up significantly from a year ago, even though fewer homeowners have listed their home for sale in recent months. High home prices and mortgage rates continue to cut into buyer interest and homes are taking more than three weeks longer to sell than last year. With a smaller pool of buyers today and more competition from other homes on the market, homesellers will likely need to adjust their price expectations in the market this spring.” Clare Trapasso, executive news editor at Realtor.com, added that “For many, shopping for a new home often begins or picks up as we head into the warmer months, which is right around the corner. Potential buyers looking to take advantage of more homes to choose from and a less competitive pace also have more negotiating power than they did a year ago. So if a home has been on the market a while without receiving any offers, they may want the seller to contribute to their closing costs, make expensive repairs, or even buy down their mortgage rate.” For the full report, including more in-depth housing metrics on the 50 largest metros, visit https://www.realtor.com/research/february-2023-data/. |
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