San Francisco, California — HouseCanary, Inc. released its May Market Pulse report, revealing a 3.6% increase in the net number of new listings compared to May 2023. Despite this increase, the housing market remains sluggish due to high interest rates and rising home prices.
New homes flooded markets across the country during May, with total inventory up 22.3% from the same period last year. While inventory has not yet reached all-time highs, it is fast approaching 2022 levels. However, the increase in inventory has not mitigated soaring home prices.
Jeremy Sicklick, co-founder and CEO of HouseCanary, commented on the survey results: “While inventory has continued to grow over the past four weeks, we've seen little improvement in terms of home affordability. Home prices reached record highs throughout April, and with mortgage rates still hovering around 7%, homebuyers continue to feel the effects of high interest rates. Higher home prices are being felt especially by first-time homebuyers, who are struggling to break into a highly competitive housing market.”
Sicklick also cited the “lock-in” effect, which can lead to a net decline in new listings as homeowners hesitate to sell and lose out on low mortgage rates. “Looking ahead to June, the start of the summer is likely to remain somewhat quiet as potential homebuyers and sellers have little incentive to enter the housing market,” he added.
Key takeaways from the report include:
- Over the past 52 weeks, 2,617,925 new listings came on the market and 2,591,530 properties went under contract, representing declines of 3.6% and 6.3%, respectively.
- In May 2024, 313,719 new properties came onto the market and 313,237 properties were under contract, representing increases of 2.8% and 3.3%, respectively, compared to May 2023.
- The increase in net new listings was driven by a 5.5% increase in new listings and a 21.7% increase in removals compared to May 2023.
- The average days on market was 34 days, up from 33 a year ago.
- The average price for all U.S. single-family properties was $458,026, and the median closing price was $438,497. Year-over-year, these figures represent increases of 3.0% and 6.9%, respectively.
According to a report from HouseCanary, while home inventory is increasing, the housing market remains tough for both buyers and sellers. High mortgage rates and high home prices continue to dampen real estate activity, leading to a quiet summer for the real estate industry.
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