Inventory Makes a Recovery in June

Those experiencing woes due to the lack of available inventory may see relief on the horizon as early June numbers show that for-sale homes available to buyers climbed 18.7%—the fastest yearly pace of all time—according to Realtor.com’s Monthly Housing Trends Report. 

A key demographic driving June’s jump in active listings were new sellers, who entered the market at a faster pace than seen since 2017, well before the pandemic. 

“Our June data shows the inventory recovery accelerated, posting the second straight month of active listings growth in nearly three years. We expect these improvements to continue, as predicted in our newly-updated 2022 forecast,” said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Realtor.com. “While we anticipate that more inventory will eventually cool the feverish pace of competition, the typical buyer has yet to see meaningful relief from quickly selling homes and record-high asking prices. However, a deeper dive into June’s inventory gains by square footage reveals potential opportunities for move-up buyers, as newly-listed homes skewed larger. In other words, this first wave of supply improvements may be particularly opportune for summer sellers looking to upgrade from their starter homes, which could mean more equity to put towards purchasing a bigger property.” 

Hale continued, adding that the increase in larger, more expensive homes as a share of new listings is one reason that overall asking prices continue to soar despite moderating demand. In June, homes with at least 1,750 square feet accounted for more new listings (54.3%, up from 52.7% in 2021) than relatively smaller homes (45.7%, down from 47.3% in 2021). 

Among other high-level takeaways are:  

The inventory of homes for sale increased again in June, the largest increase in the data’s history. 

• The national inventory of active listings increased by 18.7% over last year, while the total inventory of unsold homes, including pending listings, still declined by 1.4% due to a decline in pending inventory.  
• The inventory of active listings was down 34.1% compared to June 2020 in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and down 53.2% compared to June 2019. In other words, there are a little less than two-thirds the number of homes available compared to June 2020, and less than half compared to June 2019.  

More new listings entered the market in June compared to last year, though slightly down from May new listing growth. 

• Newly listed homes were up 4.5% nationally compared to a year ago, and up 3.1% for large metros over the past year.  
• Sellers listed at roughly the same rate as 2017 to 2019, prior to the pandemic, up slightly by 1.0%.  

Housing remains expensive and fast-paced with the median asking price at a new high while time on market is up just one day from last month’s record low. 

• The June national median listing price for active listings was $450,000, up 16.9% compared to last year and up 31.4% compared to June 2020.  
• In large metros, median listing prices grew by 13.3% compared to last year, on average.  
• Nationally, the typical home spent 32 days on the market in June, down 4 days from the same time last year and down 37 days from June 2020. 

Click here to view the report in its entirety, including localized data for the top-performing metropolitan areas.