After two years of record-setting activity, there are signs the housing market might be cooling. High home prices and a surge in mortgage interest rates are slowing buyer activity, with home sales declining for the third consecutive month under the weight of soaring homeownership costs. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reports existing home sales were down 2.4% from the previous month, while pending sales fell 3.9% as of last measure, extending the trend of recent months. Economists predict sales will continue to soften in the near future, which may put downward pressure on home prices.
New Listings decreased 18.1 percent for Single Family homes and 29.9 percent for Condominium homes. Pending Sales decreased 26.8 percent for Single Family homes and 49.8 percent for Condominium homes. Inventory decreased 9.7 percent for Single Family homes and 30.8 percent for Condominium homes.
Median Sales Price increased 19.0 percent to $1,212,500 for Single Family homes and 16.7 percent to $715,000 for Condominium homes. Days on Market decreased 7.4 percent for Single Family homes and 47.9 percent for Condominium homes. Months Supply of Inventory remained flat for Single Family homes but decreased 26.7 percent for Condominium properties.
The slowdown in sales has provided a much-needed lift to housing supply, with inventory up 10.8% from the previous month according to NAR, although supply remains down 10.4% compared to this time last year, with only 2.2 months’ supply of homes at the current sales pace. As the nation continues to explore ways to solve the ongoing housing shortage, estimated at 5.5 million homes, the Biden administration recently unveiled the Housing Supply Action Plan, which aims to expand housing access through a number of administrative and legislative actions and help relieve the nation’s housing crisis over the next 5 years.