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Though inventory levels are still far below those of a year ago, real estate data indicates that inventory has been steadily on the rise for a few months. Realtor.com took a look into August’s inventory levels and saw another increase, as well as some other notable gains. Let’s take a look…

Though the decline in year-over-year listings has steadily slowed down each month, it’s important to note the steady increase in month-to-month inventory. Broken down over the past few months:

  • June saw a 10.4 percent increase in inventory
  • July saw an 8.8 percent increase in inventory
  • August saw a 5.7 percent increase in the number of homes for sale

What about those year-over-year numbers we mentioned?

Well, the national inventory of active listings declined by 22.2 percent over last year, and is also down 52.5 percent since 2019. The total inventory of unsold homes also declined, by 12.6 percent since 2020.

How about newly listed homes (nationally)?

September saw a decline of 3.9 percent compared to last year and Realtor.com also cited that sellers are, “still listing at rates 12.6 percent lower than typical 2017 to 2019 levels.” Fortunately, when we look to August’s numbers we can see this is better than the year-over-year decline of 25.8 percent.

What about how long those homes stayed on the market before selling?

In September, homes spent an average of 43 days on the market.

However, it’s not all looking positive. Throughout the past five months of 2021 sellers were listing their homes in greater numbers than the same time last year, but September saw a 3.9 percent decline in newly listed homes.

What could be causing this shift in the housing market?

We previously discussed the possibility of the return of seasonality to the real estate market, but this isn’t the only likely reason. Buyers are becoming less willing to shell out for record-high prices and less willing to enter into bidding wars (as discussed in the article linked above). Lastly, we’ve seen a pushback from buyers as they are forced beyond their financial means. It looks like we may soon see a leveling out of the market, especially if this trend continues and sellers see their potential price tag getting smaller and smaller.

How can you analyze the real estate market yourself?

If you’re looking to stay up to date on the latest market intelligence, data by The Warren Group is what you want to power your business decisions. Be confident knowing you have data collected directly from the source, as soon as it’s available. If you’re looking to stay in the know on the latest property transaction intelligence, ask a data specialists about our real estate and mortgage data solutions to learn more.