New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale–were down again this week, by 16% from one year ago. The number of newly listed homes has been lower than the same time the previous year for the past 44 weeks.
Active inventory was up at a slower pace, with for-sale homes up just 31% above one year ago. The number of homes for sale continues to grow, but compared to one year ago, the pace is slowing. As we discussed last week, several factors make further slowing likely.
For potential first-time home buyers, this means that affordability will continue to be a top concern, and even though down payments have shrunk somewhat, they remain a considerably large hurdle.