Housing Inventory Shows Signs of Life

With wind-down of the spring home buying season, home seekers still on the hunt may have finally gotten some relief, said Trulia, San Francisco.

Trulia reported nationally, inventory rose 12.2% at the end of the second quarter from the first quarter, the largest rebound since 2015. By contrast, last year the second quarter increase was a lukewarm 3.9%.

However, Trulia noted this seasonal inventory jump wasn’t enough to offset the historical year-over-year downward trend that has continued for more than 14 consecutive quarters, starting in first quarter 2015. Despite the second-quarter gain, inventory was off by 5.3% from a year ago.

“Still, this represents an easing of the double-digit drops we’ve been seeing since the second quarter of 2017,” Trulia said.

The report said many of the nation’s most unaffordable metros experienced some unusual inventory relief, including New York and Los Angeles, where the supply of homes edged up 1% and 2.9%, respectively, year-over-year. Thirty of the nation’s 100 largest metros posted annual inventory increases in the second quarter, of which 25 rebounded from inventory decreases last year.