Home prices and sales are at their speediest yet, but there are indicators of tempering, according to data from realtor.com®.
In May, listings were at a median $297,000, which is 2 percent higher than in April and 8 percent higher than in May 2017. Annual growth, however, lost steam; in February, home prices were up 10 percent year-over-year.
The average home sold in 55 days—a record—and there were 6 percent less listings than there were a year ago, for a total of 1.44 million.
“We’re in the thick of the hottest home-buying season of all time,” says Javier Vivas, director of Economic Research at realtor.com. “The pace of U.S. home sales has officially reached a seasonal and historical high, but we’re also beginning to see slight signs of deceleration. As more and more new listings come onto the market, inventory declines are starting to lose momentum. On the surface, this offers a glimmer of hope to homebuyers, and, if sustained, could plug the supply leak.
“However, total listing volume remains highly dependent on new construction, much of which is still out of the price range of first-time buyers—the largest segment of buyers,” Vivas says. “Even as inventory recovers, the mix of what’s available versus what shoppers are looking for could become an even more pronounced mismatch.
“Unfortunately for buyers, median list prices continue to show strong yearly growth and fail to hint that home values will stall any time soon.”
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.
