|
New data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) revealed that home sales in February spiked. Sales of existing homes jumped 9.5% in February to 4.38 million units. Although sales were down 3.3% annually, it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023. The West and South regions saw the highest growth in sales, while sales in the Northeast remained unchanged. NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, commented on the data: “Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand…Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.” |
 |
|
Source: Fannie Mae (April 2024) Dana Anderson of Redfin reports on rising housing supply, noting that new home listings have increased by 15%, the highest increase in three years. Further, the total number of homes for sale is up by 6%, bringing back some demand and helping to maintain robust price growth. Mortgage-purchase applications have increased by 14% from a month ago, and pending home sales are down just 1% from a year ago, marking the smallest decline since the beginning of the year. That said, Orphe Divounguy of Zillow notes that “despite these improvements, the housing market remains supply constrained. The typical home sold in February was on the market for less than 30 days. Unsold inventory sits at just 2.9 months of supply compared to 2.6 months in February 2023. The lack of existing homes on the market provides an opportunity for builders to fill the gap, and many are offering incentives such as rate buy-downs to make the math work for prospective buyers.” Hannah Jones of Realtor.com provides more supply data, highlighting that pending home sales rose by 1.6% in February but were down by 7.0% compared to the previous year due to higher mortgage rates. New-home sales fell slightly but were still up 5.9% from the previous year. Existing home inventory improved over the previous year, leading to a 9.5% increase in sales. |