Realtor.com says housing inventory is skyrocketing in these five cities

Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue for some articles through the links below.

Fall can sometimes lift the housing market as people return from summer fun and decide it’s time to move. The prospect of lower federal interest rates and slow declines in mortgage rates should set the stage for some growth.

Realtor.com’s August report shows the impact of a changing market. The report found that the median price of homes for sale in August was $429,990, down 1.3% year over year. Interestingly, the average price per square meter increased by 2.3%, meaning that smaller, more affordable homes are gaining market share.

Trending now:

• A billion dollar investment strategy with minimums as low as $10 — you can become part of the next big real estate boom today.
  This is a paid advertisement. Please carefully consider the Fundrise Flagship Fund’s investment objectives, risks, fees and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in fund prospectus. Read them carefully before investing.

• This multi-billion dollar fund invested in the next big real estate boom, here’s how you can sign up for $10.
  This is a paid advertisement. Please carefully consider the Fundrise Flagship Fund’s investment objectives, risks, fees and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in fund prospectus. Read them carefully before investing.

The biggest story is how many houses are on the market. Homes spent 53 days on the market, making it the slowest August in five years, but six days less than the average August from 2017 to 2019. As the pace of home sales slows, the stock increases. Newly listed homes were 0.9% below last year’s levels. Inventory is still down 26.4% compared to typical levels from 2017 to 2019. Good news for potential buyers is that the inventory of homes in the $200,000 – $350,000 range is up 46.1% over last year.

Many potential buyers seem to be playing the waiting game. “Falling mortgage rates are likely to bring more homebuyers and a busier-than-usual fall season, but the uptick in activity is unlikely to overwhelm the usual seasonal slowdown,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “Buyers who are out this fall will likely face less competition than expected in the spring of 2025 as more buyers anticipate better mortgage rates.”

When homes stay on the market longer, sellers have a choice. They can stay the course or lower the price in hopes of a faster sale. The share of discount listings reached its highest level in August in more than five years, rising 3.1% to 19.3%. The West led the way in price cuts at 3.5%, closely followed by the Midwest at 3.3%, the South at 2.8% and the Northeast at 2%.

The story continues

Read more:

Where inventory is highest

Active listings increased 46% in the South, 35.7% in the West, 23.8% in the Midwest and 15.1% in the Northeast. Most areas still had lower inventory levels than in pre-pandemic years. Of the 50 largest metros, 11 saw higher inventory levels in August compared to typical levels from 2017 to 2019.

Tampa, FL leads the way in inventory, with a 90.1% year-over-year increase. This is followed by the San Diego metro area, where inventory increased by 80.4%. The top five also include Orlando, FL, up 76.9%; Miami, up 72.2%; and Seattle, up 69.3 percent. Time on market increased by 21 days in Tampa and 17 days in Orlando.

Some real estate observers believe that the surge in inventories means we are in a real estate bubble similar to what happened before the Great Financial Crisis. Nick Gerli, CEO of Reventure Consulting, chronicled what’s happening on X, posting, “A major problem for the housing market is that homebuyers are not responding to lower mortgage rates.”

Prospective home buyers now face an interesting problem. They can wait and hope that mortgage rates go down, which will lower the amount of their monthly payment as long as home prices stay where they are or go down. However, if they delay their purchases until next year, they could compete with more buyers. If this happens, inventory can run out quickly and we can return to the bidding wars of previous years.

You can profit from real estate without owning property

The current high interest rate environment has created an incredible opportunity for income investors to earn massive returns, and you don’t have to own property to do so…

Investment platform Arrived Homes has created a Private Credit Fund that provides access to a pool of short-term loans backed by residential real estate with a target net annual return of 7% to 9% paid to investors monthly. The best part? Unlike other private credit funds, this one has a minimum investment of just $100.

Don’t miss this opportunity to take advantage of high yield investments while rates are high. Check out Benzinga’s favorite high yield deals.

This article Realtor.com says housing inventory is soaring in these five cities originally appeared on Benzinga.com