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Housing Inventory Stages a Comeback in June

According to the findings in Realtor.com’s Monthly Housing Report for June 2021, new listings showed signs of a comeback, as home prices broke a new record for the fifth consecutive month at $385,000. While the number of homes for sale remained drastically lower than normal with a 43.1% decline over last year, it marked a significant improvement over the previous month's 50.9% decline in May.

The report found that new listings in June increased 5.5% year-over-year, and 10.9% over last month. Among the largest U.S. metros, the 10 markets with the highest new listings increases posted gains of 20% or more year-over-year.

"Although there's still a significant shortage of homes for sale and home prices just hit a new high, our June data report shows good news on the horizon for buyers," said Realtor.com Senior Economist George Ratiu. "Inventory declines improved over the steep drops seen earlier in the pandemic, as sellers stepped back into the market in a variety of price ranges across the country. The improvement we saw in new listings growth from May to June shows sellers are entering the market historically later in the season, which could mean we'll see homebuying continue into the fall as buyers jump at new opportunities."

With housing inventory down 43.1% year-over-year, 415,000 fewer homes were available for sale on a typical day in June compared to the same time last year, but an improvement over the more than 50% year-over-year declines seen in March, April, and May. While more sellers entered the market in June compared to last year, new listings growth was still 14.4% below the average of the June levels seen from 2017 to 2019.

Compared to the national rate tracked in June, U.S. housing supply took bigger steps towards recovery in the 50 largest metros, declining 40.5% year-over-year as big city sellers added 11.7% more listings to the market. Markets seeing the biggest gains in inventory included:

  • Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin (+44.7%)
  • San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (+40.7%)
  • Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio (+37.9%)
  • Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia (+36.3%)
  • Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona (+27.8%)
  • Columbus, Ohio (+26.2%)
  • Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Maryland (+26.1%)
  • Richmond, Virginia (+25.6%)
  • Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware-Maryland (+24.5%)
  • Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington (+22.7%)

Despite the recovery in supply, the typical home spent 37 days on the market in June, 35 days faster than last year, and 21 days faster than the average time on market from 2017, 2018 and 2019, a more normal market. The top 10 markets with homes spending the fewest number of days listed include:

  • Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colorado/Rochester, New York (12 days)
  • Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee/Columbus, Ohio (15 days)
  • Austin-Round Rock, Texas (16 days)
  • Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan (21 days)
  • Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia-North Carolina (23 days)
  • Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island/San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (24 days)
  • Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, California/Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington (26 days)
  • Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, North Carolina-South Carolina (27 days)
  • Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut (28 days)
  • San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California/Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia/Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, New York/Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (29 days)

Homes sold at an even faster clip in the 50 largest U.S. metros, spending an average of 31 days on market, down 23 days year-over-year, with the biggest declines noted in the following 10 metros:

  • Miami, Florida (-52 days)
  • Raleigh, North Carolina (-48 days)
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (-48 days)
  • Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida (-39)
  • Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida (-37)
  • New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana (-36)
  • Jacksonville, Florida (-34)
  • Austin-Round Rock, Texas (-33)
  • San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas (-31)
  • Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, North Carolina-South Carolina/Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona/Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island/Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California (-29)

And while inventory may be growing, median listing prices grew 12.7% over last year to $385,000, marking the fifth straight month of record-high prices dating back to 2012 when Realtor.com first measured this metric. However, the year-over-year pace of price growth moderated for the second consecutive month in June, down from 15.2% in May.

Listing price growth in the biggest U.S. metros is moderating more quickly than the national pace, increasing 5.3% year-over-year in June, below the growth levels seen in May (+7.4%) and April (+11.6%). Among the nation's 50 largest markets, Austin, Texas continued its 2021 streak of taking the top spot by price growth, up 34.3% year-over-year, followed by the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida metros seeing gains of 19.6%.

About Author: Eric C. Peck

Eric C. Peck has 20-plus years’ experience covering the mortgage industry, he most recently served as Editor-in-Chief for The Mortgage Press and National Mortgage Professional Magazine. Peck graduated from the New York Institute of Technology where he received his B.A. in Communication Arts/Media. After graduating, he began his professional career with Videography Magazine before landing in the mortgage space. Peck has edited three published books and has served as Copy Editor for Entrepreneur.com.
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