Not only are listings sticking on the market for longer, but there’s more of them to shop. Realtor.com‘s latest monthly report found that July saw a huge uptick in inventory, setting new records for the company’s data division—even as new listings fell slightly.
In July, the U.S. inventory of active listings increased 30.7 percent year-over-year, building on record-breaking paces in June (+18.7 percent) and in May (+8.0 percent). Relative to the national rate, active inventory grew at a faster annual pace (+41 percent) across the 50 largest U.S. metros in July, on average. Phoenix, Austin and Raleigh notched the largest gains.
Nationally, newly listed homes were down 2.8 percent annually, with the biggest drops in the northeast (-14.3 percent) and midwest (-11 percent).
“The U.S. housing market continues to move toward more evenly balanced supply and demand compared to the 2021 frenzy. Our July data shows elevated mortgage rates left many buyers tightening their budgets and sellers responding with price reductions, while home shoppers who kept searching saw more available options,” said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for Realtor.com. “At the same time, new listings declined in July, suggesting that some prospective sellers are wondering what recent market shifts mean for their plans to list. But data indicates that homeowners grappling with this decision are still in a good position in many markets, with buyer interest keeping well-priced homes selling quickly. Plus, many sellers have a substantial equity cushion to leverage, thanks to the past decade of rising prices. Whether or not they take advantage of these opportunities will be key to inventory trends moving forward.”
In the Sacramento area, active listings were up 72.3 percent while new listings fell 12 percent in July. San Francisco and Oakland saw active listings more than double as new listings fell 18.6 percent.
In neighboring San Jose, active listings were up 42.8 percent as new listings dropped 21.7 percent, annually.