At a time when the housing market has never needed more homes to be listed for sale, there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel.
According to a new report from Realtor.com, the number of homes being listed for sale increased nearly 11% in June over May’s total.
While inventory still remains “drastically lower than normal,” Realtor.com Senior Economist George Ratiu says that the increase seen in June is a positive development for a housing market that has seen prices hit record highs due to the lack of inventory.
"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," Ratiu said.
"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,” Ratui added. “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 home buying continue into the fall as buyers jump at new opportunities."
According to the report, there were 10 markets where new listings increased by at least 20% year-over-year. Among those markets were Milwaukee, where listings increased by 44.7%; San Jose, where listings increased by +40.7%; and Cleveland, where listings increased by 37.9%.
It should be noted, however, that in each of the 50 largest metro areas, there were fewer homes for sale than there were at the same time last year. But Ratiu said that it looks like things are getting a little better.
“Although there were fewer homes actively for sale on a typical day in June compared to last year and to the average June from 2017-2019, the uptick in newly-listed homes may be giving buyers more homes to choose from and potentially more time to make decisions,” Ratiu said. “If these trends persist, inventory declines and price growth may continue to moderate as the housing market returns to a more normal pace of activity heading into the second half of 2021.”