Amid nationwide shortages in supply, homebuyers in June had more options, but their choices were fast-moving and pricey, according to data from realtor.com®. The average home was listed for a median $299,000 and sold in 54 days—both new realtor.com records.
On an annual basis, inventory in June sunk 4 percent, which is a departure from the average decline of 8 percent observed in the past year, the data show. List prices rose 9 percent year-over-year, which is in line with trend.
Homes are moving quicker out West, according to the data—in fact, of the 100 largest markets, there were six with days on market at a month or less, and five in the West: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (23 days); Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (24 days); San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif. (25 days); Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb. (26 days); Salt Lake City, Utah (26 days); and Colorado Springs, Colo. (30 days).
For buyers entering the market, the dynamic is troubling.
“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,” says Javier Vivas, director of Economic Research for realtor.com. “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.
“However, much of the new inventory is composed of higher-priced, newer and larger homes, forcing a very hungry pool of buyers to adjust their budgets,” Vivas says.
For more information, please visit www.realtor.com.
Suzanne De Vita is RISMedia’s online news editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at sdevita@rismedia.com. For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.