Housing Inventory Hits Highest Level Since May 2020

(9/9/24)  There’s good news for prospective home buyers who are sitting on the fence. According to Realtor.com’s August Housing Trends Report, the number of homes for sale sits at the highest level since May 2020, giving shoppers more options to choose from this fall.

The number of homes actively for sale grew by 35.8% in August, the 10th consecutive month of growth, Realtor.com reported.

“In April, we noted that rising for-sale inventory was likely to lead to more balance between buyers and sellers,” said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist. “As the number of homes on the market continues to climb, price cuts are more common, asking prices are moderating and homes are taking longer to sell.”

That means that home buyers have more bargaining power.  

But what about prices? There’s good news there as well. According to the Realtor.com report, the median price of homes for sale in August decreased by 1.3% over last year, to $429,990. Homes spent 53 days on the market, the slowest August in five years.

The five metropolitan areas with the largest amount of inventory growth in August were Tampa–St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (90.1% more active listings), San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA (80.4%), Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL (76.9%), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL (72.2%) and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (69.3%).