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Houses in June again sold faster than they did the month or the year before, according to Realtor.com. A new report shows the average time a property was listed in June was 54 days before a sale. That's six days faster than a year ago and one day faster than in May.
Six markets saw inventory move within 30 days, on average. Despite being the most expensive market in the country, San Jose, California, saw properties spend only 23 days on the market. Seattle and San Francisco properties spent 24 and 25 days on the market, respectively. Omaha and Salt Lake City followed swiftly behind, each seeing homes go from listing to contract in 26 days. Colorado Springs saw properties move in 30 days in June.
As has been the case with increasingly swift sales, the report credits the competitive environment spurred by shrinking inventory as the reason time on the market keeps going down. U.S. home inventory (547,000) did increase 4 percent from May to June, but according to the report, inventory on an annual basis decreased 4 percent—a slower rate than the 8 percent average decrease during the previous 12 months.
This, the report stated, “provided some relief to tight inventory conditions despite new listings dipping 2 percent lower than May 2018.”
Javier Vivas, Director of Economic Research for Realtor.com, said that the pace of sales in the early days of summer continues to be as fierce and unforgiving as it's ever been, especially for entry-level buyers. But, he added, there is some hope.
"On the bright side, buyers saw more new listings hit the market than they saw last June, causing inventory to drop at a slower rate,” Vivas said.
However, much of the new inventory is composed of higher-priced, newer, and larger homes, forcing a hungry pool of buyers to adjust their budgets, he said.
They might have to adjust a lot. The median listing price of $299,000 is the highest on record, the report stated. Listing prices increased 9 percent year-over-year and show no signs of slowing down. They increased, on average, 9 percent year-over-year for the last 12 months.
