U.S. Inventory Grew at Record Pace in July

Low inventory has plagued the U.S. housing market throughout the pandemic-inspired real estate boom. Now it’s growing at a record pace, according to a report Tuesday from Realtor.com.

The number of active listings was up 30.7% in July, the fastest pace on record and the third consecutive month of inventory recovery, the data showed. 

“The U.S. housing market continues to move toward more evenly balanced supply and demand compared to the 2021 frenzy,” Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist, said in the report. 

“Our July data shows elevated mortgage rates left many buyers tightening their budgets and sellers responding with price reductions, while home shoppers who kept searching saw more available options.”

Regionally, the West saw the biggest annual increase in inventory, 68.9%, according to the report. The South was second, with a 51.6% surge, followed by the Midwest (10.2%) and the Northeast (3%).

However, nationally, supply is still down 44.4% compared to July 2019, the report said. 

In addition, new listings in the U.S. also ticked down 2.8% annually in July, “suggesting that some prospective sellers are wondering what recent market shifts mean for their plans to list,” Ms. Hale continued. 

“But data indicates that homeowners grappling with this decision are still in a good position in many markets, with buyer interest keeping well-priced homes selling quickly,” she said. “Plus, many sellers have a substantial equity cushion to leverage, thanks to the past decade of rising prices. Whether or not they take advantage of these opportunities will be key to inventory trends moving forward.”

Meanwhile, home prices remain elevated. The median listing price of a U.S. home rose 16.6% year over year last month, reaching $449,000, the figures showed. That’s nearly 40% higher than it was in July 2019. 

Asking prices were up in 47 of the 50 metro areas tracked in the report. Miami, which has attracted droves of buyers able to work remotely during the pandemic, saw the biggest spike in prices in July, 36.2%. Memphis, Tennessee, had the second largest jump, 32.7%, followed by Orlando, Florida, where they rose 28.4%. 

The three cities where prices declined were Rochester, New York (3.1%), Pittsburgh (3.1%) and Cincinnati (2.9%). 

Mansion Global is owned by Dow Jones. Both Dow Jones and Realtor.com are owned by News Corp.