RE/MAX: Housing Inventory Posts Record Increase as Declining Sales Extend to Sixth Month
RE/MAX, Denver, said January home sales declined for the sixth consecutive month, contributing to the largest year-over-year inventory increase in at least 10 years.
The company’s monthly National Housing Report said while year-over-year home sales dropped by 11%, extending a streak that began in August, inventory grew year-over-year by an average of 6.4% across the report’s 54 U.S. metro areas. January marked the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year inventory growth, further reversing a decade-long trend of shrinking inventory.
“The winter chill extended to the housing market in January, as home sales remained cool,” said RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos. “The good news is that inventory levels in January continued to rise on a year-over-year basis, providing incremental improvement in what’s been a multi-year shortage of for-sale homes. This is a positive for homebuyers, as the market continues to swing their way.”
RE/MAX said the median sales price of $234,000 represented a report record for January, increasing by 4.6% from a year ago. But the rate of sales price increase was considerably less than the 6.7% posted from January 2017 to January 2018. December was the only month since January 2012 to show a year-over-year decline in median sales price.
Four metro areas saw a year-over-year decrease in median sales price, including Anchorage, Alaska (-3.9%), Pittsburgh, (-2.0%), Trenton, N.J, (-1.5%) and Birmingham, Ala. (-0.5%.) Six metro areas increased year-over-year by double-digit percentages, with the largest increases seen in Augusta, Maine (12.1%), Las Vegas (11.2%) and Wichita, Kan. (10.5%).
Homes on average spent 59 days on market, a record low for January sold listings, averaging one day less than 60 posted a year ago. January’s 3.9-month supply of inventory was higher than the 3.4-month supply a year ago.
“Underlying demand remains solid overall, as evidenced by widespread price increases,” Contos said. “So the housing market, while not markedly busy in January, remains relatively healthy. Furthermore, with interest rates stabilizing and home-price increases slowing, the spring selling season shapes up to be as interesting as any we have seen in years.”
