The number of new listings rose 8% in May, the first gain since June 2019, though inventory remains at a historic low nationwide, Realtor.com reports. The median asking price climbed to a record high $447,000 in May, a 17.6% year-over-year increase leading to a significant drop in buyer demand.
In order to attract offers, sellers in some regional markets are lowering their asking prices, and a softening in price growth and in the pace of new home sales is shifting a buyer-seller dynamic that has long given sellers the upper hand.
Despite growing inventory, many homebuyers might still feel squeezed in terms of their pocketbooks.
Combined with rising mortgage rates (now over 5%), the cost of financing a home is up 50% over a year ago. As a result, some homebuyers have given up their house hunt until home prices and/or interest rates fall back within realistic reach—whenever that may be.
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