As home listing prices break another new record, more homeowners are looking to take advantage and list their homes for sale. New listings in June rose 5.5% year-over-year and are up 10.9% over the prior month, according to a new report from realtor.com®.
The uptick in new listings may give buyers more homes to choose from and could offer a hopeful sign for the real estate market.
Still, the inventory challenges in the housing market are far from over: The number of homes for sale still remains 43% lower than last 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,” says George Ratiu, senior economist at realtor.com®. “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 home buying continue into the fall as buyers jump at new opportunities.”
If the progress in new listings continues, Ratiu adds that the housing market could return to a more normal pace of activity by the second half of 2021.
That could help cool off some of the recent highs in home prices. The median U.S. listing price increased 12.7% over last year to $385,000, which marks the fifth consecutive month for price records, realtor.com® reports. However, the year-over-year price growth is starting to show signs of moderating, down from 15.2% in May.
Despite higher prices, homes continue to sell fast. The typical home spent 37 days on the market in June, which is 21 days faster than the average time on the market pre-pandemic in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Denver and Rochester, N.Y., had the fastest times on the market in June at a median of 12 days, followed by Nashville at 15 days.
