Spring Market: More Inventory

Active single-family inventory kept climbing through mid-April, adding choices for buyers just as more sellers started cutting prices. (housingwire.com) HousingWire reported 77,919 new single-family listings in the latest weekly read, up 10.9% from the prior week, while active inventory rose 2.5% to 743,006 homes. The same report put the national median list price near $445,000. (housingwire.com) The pricing gap is showing up in seller behavior. About 34.7% of listings had taken a price cut, 8.9% had been relisted, the median time on market was 56 days, and the average was 118 days. (housingwire.com) Other national data points in the same direction. Realtor.com said on April 17 that fresh listing activity had rebounded to a level “not seen in nearly a year,” giving buyers more options during the peak spring selling window. (realtor.com) That is a shift from early April, when Realtor.com said Easter week and a jump in mortgage rates pulled new listings sharply lower. By April 22, HousingWire said the market had “snapped back” after that holiday distortion. (realtor.com) (housingwire.com) The market still does not look like a broad price crash. HousingWire said national median list prices were down 1.1% from a year earlier, while Redfin said the median U.S. sale price in March was $436,412, up 1.1% year over year. (housingwire.com) (redfin.com) What is changing is leverage at the margin. Realtor.com’s March housing report said inventory had posted 28 straight months of annual growth and described the spring market as more buyer-friendly than a year earlier, with prices easing and supply improving. (realtor.com) That does not mean every metro is loosening at the same pace. HousingWire’s April 8 market update said national conditions looked stable, but regional performance was “pulling further apart,” with Massachusetts and Connecticut absorption rates around 19% to 20% and price cuts below the national average. (housingwire.com) Mortgage costs are still part of the story. Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.30% on April 16, down from 6.37% a week earlier, but rates remained high enough to keep many buyers selective about homes that look overpriced. (realtor.com) So the spring market is opening with more homes on the shelf and more room to negotiate on the ones that missed the mark. Sellers who price close to current demand are still moving homes; sellers anchored to older expectations are more often cutting, relisting, or waiting. (housingwire.com)