Inventory Relief for Desperate Buyers?

If your buyers have been frantically searching for a home as the inventory crunch grows tighter, some relief may be on the way. It’s a challenging environment, with homes in July selling at the fastest pace this year, prompting “desperate buyers to bid up prices and move quickly to close,” according to realtor.com®’s monthly housing report.

Additionally, realtor.com® reports that homes sold at a record pace in August, as listings moved off the market 8 percent faster than they did a year ago. The median time on market for realtor.com® property listings in August was 66 days—six days shorter than a year ago. “The overall housing market remains deep into shortage mode, even as we reach a seasonal high number of homes for sale,” says Javier Vivas, realtor.com®’s manager of economic research.

But by the end of the month, August may show 500,000 new listings, which would mark the largest yearly gain in new inventory since March 2016, realtor.com® predicts. While that would give buyers more options to choose from, the new listings likely won’t be any kinder to their budget. The listings are expected to be larger homes at higher costs, realtor.com® notes.

“This sets up what could be an extended and frustrating fall homebuying season for first-time buyers, and it marks what could be the start of some relief in the mid-to-upper tier,” Vivas notes. The median list price in August was $275,000, a 10 percent increase from a year ago, realtor.com® reports.

Source: “America’s 20 Hottest Real Estate Markets for August 2017,” realtor.com® (Aug. 24, 2017)