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Summer Slump

Home sales experienced a summer slump, according to the August 2017 RE/MAX National Housing Report, which analyzes data from a total of 54 metro areas across the country.

The month of July saw a 0.8 percent drop in home sales year-over-year, even considering that 19 out of 54 of the measured metros saw an increase in sales. However, this trend isn’t unusual.

“After a jump in home sales in May and June, it’s not unusual to see a dip in sales in July,” said Adam Contos, RE/MAX Co-CEO“This summertime slowdown is a national trend that we sometimes see this time of year, even though this month’s decrease was razor thin. Low inventory continues to constrain the market. Successful buyers will have to be prepped and ready to act fast to purchase listings that, on average, are selling in record time.”

Even though sales were down, homes were selling faster than ever recorded by RE/MAX—at an average of 45 days on the market. That average is lower by two days than June 2017’s number, and eight days from July 2016’s. The lowest average days on the market were 20, 20, 22, and 24, with Omaha, Nebraska; Seattle, Washington; Denver, Colorado; and San Francisco, California, respectively.

Median home prices were also barely down compared to June—$239,950, which was the highest ever recorded in the nine years the company has been recording this specific dataset, but still 1 percent lower than the month of June. Year-over-year, however, that number is 7.4 percent higher.  Out of the 54 metros, three were either unchanged or experienced decrease year-over-year: Billings, Montana (down 2.2 percent); Anchorage, Alaska (down 0.7 percent); and Houston, Texas, which was unchanged. The highest increase in median sales price were Seattle, Washington at 13.7 percent; Tampa, Florida at 13.5 percent; Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 11.6 percent; Portland, Oregon at 11.4 percent; and, Charlotte, North Carolina at 11.0 percent.

About Author: Joey Pizzolato

Joey Pizzolato is the Online Editor of DS News and MReport. He is a graduate of Spalding University, where he holds a holds an MFA in Writing as well as DePaul University, where he received a B.A. in English. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in a variety of print and online journals and magazines. To contact Pizzolato, email [email protected].
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