The U.S. housing market seems to be cooling off as the tight inventory situation shows signs of reversal, according to data from real estate listings website Realtor.
“The increase in the number of homes for sale in June is due to a couple of key factors: Namely, sellers are putting more homes up for sale than last year. In fact, we’re back to about as many sellers as we saw in a typical pre-pandemic market,” said Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale. Supply of homes for sale is picking up just as demand is reaching a “breaking point” for many buyers, she added.
In Austin, which was one of the red hot markets during the early pandemic period, active listings rose by 144.5 percent in June compared to 2021. In cities like Raleigh, North Carolina, and Phoenix, Arizona, inventory listings have surged by over 100 percent during this period.
Home Prices and Mortgage Rates
The median home price in June hit a record high of $450,000. This is up 16.9 percent from June 2021 and 31.4 percent from June 2020.In addition to sky-high prices, buyers are also struggling with surging mortgage rates that are currently at about 5.8 percent. The cost of financing 80 percent of a typical home rose to 57.6 in June compared to the same time in 2021. This amounts to $765 per month in extra mortgage payments.