This spring’s real estate market is coming in strong. New data released by realtor.com shows that homes in May are moving off the market at the fastest pace seen since the housing recovery began, despite record-high asking prices.
Based on realtor.com’s preliminary findings, homes spent a median of 65 days on the market in May—the same length of time as a year ago and three days quicker than April. The median home was listed at $250,000—9 percent higher than a year ago and 2 percent higher than the past month. For-sale housing inventory also has continued to increase on a monthly basis, but remains lower than a year ago.
Meanwhile, more than 550,000 listings have been added to the market to date in May (a 4 percent increase), but the level of inventory remains 4 percent lower than a year ago. Site traffic data on realtor.com shows a 30 percent growth in searches for homes for sale, compared with May 2015.
“Pent-up demand and low mortgage rates are driving consumers into the market with urgency,” says realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke in a statement. “However, the recurring issue of limited supply is leading to higher prices.”
Thankfully, Smoke adds, gains in new single-family construction and new home sales are providing a pressure release. “Potential buyers are finding they can avoid a competitive bid situation if they elect to sign a contract on a home to be built,” he says. “As the share of new homes sold goes up, we should eventually see signs of more balance in the existing home market, like lower price appreciation. However, we clearly aren’t there yet.”
Here is a snapshot of the realtor.com’s May data:
• Median age of inventory is estimated to end at 65 days, the same as May 2015 and down 4 percent from April.
• Median listing price for May should reach a record high of $250,000—a 9 percent increase year over year and a 2 percent increase month over month.
• Listing inventory in May is showing a 4 percent increase over April. However, inventory decreased 4 percent year over year.