Key Findings:

 

  • New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale–were up 4% above one year ago.  Now that we’re in May, we’re in the heart of home selling season. Over the last few years, we have tended to see the number of new listings peak on an absolute basis this month while active inventory (newly listed homes plus those that have been on the market for a while) tends to peak in the fall. Seller confidence amid record high asking prices is contributing to the growth in the number of sellers this year over last.

 

  • Active inventory grew for the first time since 2019. While the size of the improvement rounded to 0%, this week’s data markets the first time that inventory figures weren’t lower than the previous year since June 2019. Our April Housing Trends Report showed that the active listings count remained 60 percent below its level right at the onset of the pandemic. This means that for every 5 homes available for sale in the earlier period, today there are just 2. In other words, homes for sale are still limited. However, the switch to growth after nearly 3 years of decline is a step in the right direction, even though inventory continues to lag pre-pandemic normal.