”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.
Buzz: The number of homes for sale rose nationally on a year-over-year basis for the first time since June 2019, with some of the biggest gains coming in California markets.
Source: Realtor.com compiles a monthly survey of listings of existing homes on the market.
Top line
The number of active U.S. listings rose 8% year over year in May, likely driven by new sellers and a slowdown in would-be buyers deterred by high prices, Realtor.com said in a report Thursday. Listings were down 12% year over year in April.
The largest increases in new listings were in the West and the South. Among the 50 metro areas tracked, the year’s largest jump in homes on the market was in Austin (up 86%), then came Phoenix (up 67%), Sacramento (up 55%) and the Inland Empire (up 52%).
Details
Here’s what happened in California in May — and how that activity stacked up nationally, ranked by the size of listing increases within the state:
No. 1 Sacramento
Active listings: Up 55% — No. 3 of 50 nationally.
Median listing price: $649,000 — No. 9.
Year’s price change: Up 11% — No. 29.
Share of price cuts: Up 17.2% of listings — No. 4.
No. 2 Inland Empire
Active listings: Up 52% — No. 4 of 50.
Median listing price: $599,000 — No. 12.
Year’s price change: Up 14.2% — No. 24.
Share of price cuts: 13.9% of listings — No. 7
No. 3 San Francisco
Active listings: Up 32% — No. 12 of 50.
Median listing price: $1.13 million — No. 2.
Year’s price change: Up 3.8% — No. 38.
Share of price cuts: 9.1% of listings — No. 30.
No. 4 San Jose
Active listings: Up 23% — No. 15 of 50 nationally.
Median listing price: $1,494,000 — No. 1.
Year’s price change: 15.1% — No. 22.
Share of price cuts: 9.9% of listings — No. 24.
No. 5 San Diego
Active listings: Up 10% — No. 26 of 50.
Median listing price: $926,000 — No. 4.
Year’s price change: Up 15.9% — No. 19.
Share of price cuts: 11.5% of listings — No. 14.
No. 6 Los Angeles-Orange County
Active listings: Up 5% — No. 31 of 50 nationally.
Median listing price: $972,000 — No. 3
Year’s price change: Up 1.4% — No. 41.
Share of price cuts: 10.5%, of listings — No. 18.
Quotable
“While this real estate refresh is welcome news in a still-undersupplied market, it has yet to make a dent in home price growth,” Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com, said in the report.
Bottom line
The stats suggest housing supply hit a turning point last month.
Still, the uptick in inventory doesn’t necessarily mean that the housing market exuberance is softening. Listings remain 49% below their May 2020 level, and price increases have accelerated in recent months.
The U.S. median listing price rose to a record $447,000 in May, after just crossing the $400,000 threshold in March. And buyers made purchasing more quickly than in any month in Realtor.com data history going back to July 2016.
Nonetheless, the jump in mortgage rates and a softening economic outlook may have thinned the number of house hunters and made bidding wars less exuberant. In an early sign, the rate of sellers making price cuts accelerated in May, Hale said.
Bloomberg News and the Southern California News Group’s Jonathan Lansner contributed to this report.
