Unexpected Boost for Homebuyers in August
The latest market report from Zillow shared some good news for buyers: a slight increase in new listings for August—which is a nice surprise given inventory typically drops during the end-of-summer slowdown.
It’s good to have options. And today’s homebuyers have had significantly fewer to choose from compared to a year ago. But with the uptick in new listings from July to August, the year-over-year decline has shrunken from 25.6% (in July) to 12.7%.
While sellers are still putting fewer homes on the market compared to pre-pandemic norms, the monthly bump in inventory has given buyers a small but welcome bit of relief.
Meanwhile, home values also rose month over month, though only by 0.2%, bringing annual appreciation to 1.3%.
Those still shopping for homes late in summer were offered a bit of relief, and not all from expected sources. Competition for houses tends to ease up at this time of year, giving buyers more time to decide and a better chance to negotiate on price. What we didn’t expect — especially considering 7-plus-percent mortgage rates — was more new listings. The inventory crunch is still far from resolved, but this was a small step in the right direction. – Jeff Tucker – Zillow Senior Economist
INVENTORY ROSE MONTH OVER MONTH BUT REMAINS WELL BELOW 2019 LEVELS
Sellers in the U.S. listed almost 350,000 homes for sale in August—up 4% from the previous month. And while the number of new listings is still more than 20% behind pre-pandemic norms, the surprise uptick gave buyers some fresh options to choose from at a time when inventory tends to fall back.
According to Zillow data, new listings have contracted every August since 2018. This year’s slight uptick helped cut the annual decline roughly in half—from -25.6% in July to 12.7% in August.
Meanwhile, homeowners who took advantage of ultra-low mortgage rates in 2020 or 2021 to purchase or refinance a home are now strongly disincentivized to sell. And that’s kept new listings at seasonal record lows for 14 straight months (with the exception of April 2020).
Total inventory also rose 2.2% from July to August, but inventory levels are still down roughly 42% compared to August 2019.
HOUSING MARKET HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ZILLOW REPORT
Typical home values rose 0.2% from July to August, marking a significant drop in home price appreciation compared to the previous three months. The nation’s typical home price reached a new all-time high of $351,423, putting it 1.3% higher than August 2022.
Home values increased month over month in 32 of the 50 largest U.S. metros, led by—
- Hartford, CT (1.3%)
- Buffalo, NY (1.0%)
- San Diego, CA (0.9%)
- Cleveland, OH (0.7%)
- Providence, RI (0.7%).
Home values declined from July to August in 12 major U.S. metros, led by—
- New Orleans, LA (-1.4%)
- Austin, TX (-1.0%)
- San Antonio, TX (-0.4%)
- Denver, CO (-0.2%)
- Dallas, TX (-0.2%)
Year over year, home values increased in over half (29) of the 50 largest U.S. metros, with the biggest annual increases in—
- Hartford, CT (9.9%)
- Milwaukee, WI (8.1%)
- Virginia Beach, VA (5.7%)
- Philadelphia, PA (5.5%)
- Providence, RI (5.3%)
Home values declined year over year in 21 major U.S. metros, with the biggest annual drops in—
- Austin (-11.4%)
- New Orleans (-8.7%)
- Phoenix (-6.4%)
- Las Vegas (-6.4%)
- San Francisco (-4.2%)
HOME SALES AND DAYS ON MARKET
Compared to July, fewer homes sold above their list price in July compared to June.
Zillow closed-sales data for July shows 40.4% of homes sold above their list price—down from 41.5% in June. And listing data for August shows a continued increase in the percentage of new listings with price cuts—up to 23.4%, compared to 21.8% in July.
Listings in August also took 13 days to go pending—spending one day longer on the market compared to the previous month but 15 days longer than a year ago.
Data for August also shows an 18.9% drop in newly pending listings compared to a year ago—up from the 14.5% annual drop in July.
Mortgage rates remain volatile, and agents are preparing themselves and their businesses for a “higher for longer” scenario. Because, as Tom Ferry pointed out in the 2023 Success Summit, “This is the market for the next 3-5 years.”
RENTS ARE CLIMBING SLOWLY
Asking rents increased 0.3% from July to August—slightly more than the typical pre-pandemic pace of 0.2% for this time of year but a bit slower than the previous two Augusts (2021–2022).
Rents are now up only 3.3% from August 2022, marking a slower annual growth rate than was typical for 2019 (4.0%) or 2018 (4.2%).
All in all, Zillow data would suggest rental market trends are returning to normal. And rent data for August is consistent with the normal seasonal trend of cooler rent growth in Q3 and Q4.
Key Details:
- Zillow’s latest market report shows a monthly uptick in new listings for August—good news for home shoppers, though inventory remains historically low, thanks to persistently high mortgage rates and high home prices.
- Home values increased by 0.2% from July to August, and by 1.3% from August 2022.
Posted by Sarah Lentz | Sep 13, 2023 | Housing Market
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