Tag Archives: Housing Supply

Over the 12-month period ending in June 2015, nearly 20 percent of the more than 340 markets covered in Veros Real Estate Solutions' quarterly VeroFORECAST are expected to experience a decline in home prices, the company said Tuesday. While that leaves 80 percent of the country on an upward growth path, "all but the most upbeat markets are slowing in their value improvements," Veros said in its third-quarter update.

According to Realtor.com, the median listing price of homes in May this year was $214,900, a rise of 8 percent compared to year-ago levels. "This May's housing market stands in significant contrast to last year in which price increases were less generalized and more concentrated in specific metropolitan areas," the company said. "This broad increase in price suggests a more evenly distributed recovery and a healthier national housing market."

Florida's housing market had more new listings, an increase in median prices, and an uptick in inventory in May, according to Florida Realtors. "Right now, the market offers a great opportunity for sellers, who are seeing nearly 93 percent of their asking price at the closing table. And mortgage rates, though rising, remain historically low—giving consumers more buying power," said 2014 Florida Realtors president Sherri Meadows.

Sales of new single-family homes blew past all expectations in May even as prices and inventory continued to present a challenge. According to figures released Tuesday by the Census Bureau, new home sales last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 504,000, representing an 18.6 percent spike above April's downwardly revised rate of 425,000.

The inventory of for-sale homes nationwide spiked in May, but the latest improvement isn't expected to do much for first-time homebuyers and other shoppers challenged by housing affordability concerns. According to Zillow, after dropping in 2012 and remaining low throughout 2013 and the start of 2014, the available stock of for-sale homes climbed 4.3 percent from April to May, marking the third straight month of gains.

Existing-home sales rose in May at their highest monthly growth rate in years as inventory continued to expand, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Monday. According to NAR, total existing-home sales jumped 4.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million. It was the biggest month-over-month boost since August 2011, when sales picked up 5.5 percent, the group reported.

The latest National Housing Report from RE/MAX found that for the third month in a row, home sales in May rose higher than sales in the previous month. "We've now seen three straight months of increased sales over the previous month—although we may not match the growth rates we saw last year, we are seeing significant increases in both sales and prices and that's a positive sign," said Margaret Kelly, RE/MAX CEO.

Examining multiple listing service data in 37 cities across the United States, real estate site Movoto.com reported 104,157 listings available on the market, a 15.4 percent jump from 90,264 a year prior. "By comparison, the total inventory index actually decreased by 22.9 percent between May 2012 and May 2013," wrote Randy Nelson, content manager at Movoto, in the company's blog.

A report published by Redfin's Research Center indicated that home inventory was up 9.1 percent in May. That number represents the highest number of new listings to come onto the market in the last four years. At the same time, the actual number of homes sold dropped 10 percent. The drop in actual sales surprised analysts, who had been predicting a flood of new home purchases once inventory was in greater supply.

In a market update, Wells Fargo's Economics Group contends that the road to housing recovery will be longer—and much bumpier—than expected. The group said that the "lack of a rebound in home sales this spring has reinforced our view that there was more than harsh winter weather behind the recent slide in home sales and mortgage applications."