Realtor.com’s Monthly Housing Trends Report suggests that the U.S. housing supply could be on the rebound, with April’s active listings down 12.2%, the smallest year-over-year decline since December 2019. The total inventory of unsold homes, including pending listings, declined by 10.7%.
Inventory improvements were led by increases in the share of mid-sized homes, which could mean more listings available to families looking to upgrade from their starter homes, the company said, which could result in an uptick in options for first-time buyers. The positive supply signs are likely due to slowing sales brought on by recent increases in mortgage rates, which has made buying more expensive.
“The key to this growth will be the continuation of softening buyer competition and an increasing number of sellers putting homes on the market,” said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com chief economist.
The data also showed that nationally, pending listings were down 9.5% year-over-year, reflecting intensifying cost pressures faced by buyers. New listings gained some momentum but ultimately ended the month slightly below last year’s level (-0.9%) and 13.0% lower than typical April levels from 2017-2019, the report showed.
Other highlights from April: the typical U.S. home spent 34 days on market, six days less than last year and beating the previous record-low in June 2021 (36 days); yearly declines moderated significantly over the March rate (-11 days).
Homes in the 50 largest U.S. metros spent an average of 28 days on the market, also six days fewer than last year, according to the report. Regionally, the South posted the biggest year-over-year declines in time on market (-9 days), followed by the West (-5 days. Also at the metro level – home sales moved at the fastest year-over-year pace in Miami (-29 days), St. Louis (-15 days), Raleigh, N.C. (-14 days), Orlando, Fla. (-13 days) and Hartford, Conn. (-13 days).
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