As the peak home-buying season comes to an end, rising inventories and slower, steadier home-price increases in many markets are showing a healthier housing recovery, according to realtor.com®'s National Housing Trend Report for August.
“Where we have seen significant volatility in many markets — including double-digit declines in inventories as well as increases in median price for both yearly and monthly views — we are now looking at a housing market that is less heated and moving closer to normalcy,” says Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Move, Inc., which operates realtor.com®. Future home-price increases may be driven more by market demand than inventory shortages, realtor.com® notes.
Earlier this year, tight inventories persisted in many housing markets, leaving buyers with limited options and helping to drive home prices up.
The majority of markets are ending the 2013 home-buying season on a positive note, with more balanced inventories, shorter times on market, and higher listing prices compared to a year ago, realtor.com® notes.
Nearly a third of the 146 markets that realtor.com® evaluated are within 5 percent of last year’s inventory levels. More than two-thirds saw a net increase in inventory levels over the last month.
Price appreciation is also becoming more widespread, realtor.com® notes. In August, 123 of the 146 markets posted year-over-year rises in median list prices. Seventy-eight markets saw an increase of 5 percent or more.
Corpus Christi, Texas, saw the biggest gain in median list prices in August, rising 6.53 percent. Meanwhile, Jersey City, N.J., posted the largest declines, with home prices falling 8 percent in August.
Source: “Dynamics Shift in Housing Market,” realtor.com (Sept. 12, 2013)
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