Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-September 2024

This 2-part overview for mid-September provides a snapshot of the current housing market.

I always focus first on inventory, since inventory usually tells the tale! And currently inventory is increasing year-over-year but is still well below pre-pandemic levels.

New Listings for Existing Homes Down Slightly Year-over-year in August

Here is a graph of new listing from Realtor.com’s August 2024 Monthly Housing Market Trends Report showing new listings were down 0.9% year-over-year in August. New listings are still well below pre-pandemic levels. From Realtor.com:

Just like buyers, sellers pulled back this August as newly listed homes were 0.9% below last year’s levels and a reversal from July’s 8.4% gain. This breaks a nine-month streak of increasing listing activity. We think the sharp decrease in mortgage rates seen in mid-August could lead to an increase in listings in the coming months as lower rates begin to entice the marginal homeowner to sell.

Note the seasonality for new listings. December and January are seasonally the weakest months of the year for new listings, followed by February and November. New listings will be up year-over-year in 2024, but still well below normal levels.

There are always people that need to sell due to the so-called 3 D’s: Death, Divorce, and Disease. Also, in certain times, some homeowners will need to sell due to unemployment or excessive debt. Neither is much of an issue right now, except possibly in Florida with very expensive homeowner’s insurance (due to impacts from climate change), and special assessments for condo owners due to deferred maintenance.

And there are homeowners who want to sell for a number of reasons: upsizing (more babies), downsizing, moving for a new job, or moving to a nicer home or location (move-up buyers). It is some of the “want to sell” group that has been locked in with the golden handcuffs over the last couple of years, since it is financially difficult to move when your current mortgage rate is around 3%, and your new mortgage rate will around 6.15%.

But time is a factor for this “want to sell” group, and eventually some of them will take the plunge. And early data suggests new listings will be up year-over-year in September.

Impact on Active Inventory

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