Our research team releases regular monthly housing trends reports. These reports break down inventory metrics like the number of active listings and the pace of the market. In addition, we continue to give readers more timely weekly updates, an effort that began in response to the rapid changes in the economy and housing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Generally, you can look forward to a Weekly Housing Trends View and the latest weekly housing data on Thursdays with a weekly video update from our economists on Fridays. Here’s what the housing market looked like over the last week.
What this Week’s Data Means:
While home price momentum faded somewhat this week, not only are typical home asking prices higher than one year ago, but the cost of financing that home purchase is also much higher. Higher costs have sapped momentum from home sales which dipped for a second month in March. The number of homes for sale could be on track to grow on a year-over-year basis by this summer, which would be the first-such gain in 3 years. However, this week’s data showed a dip in new sellers, and put the recent catch-up in the number of homes for sale on pause. For now, potential buyers should know that the market remains competitive, but there are signs of lessening competition as cost hurdles grow higher.
Key Findings:
- The median listing price grew by 13.6 percent over last year. This marked an 18th week of double-digit gains for the typical list price, but this was the second week of deceleration in the median asking price. With mortgage rates now at 5%, buyers have less purchasing power and while home price gains have been expected to lose momentum in the face of these market challenges, they have displayed remarkable resilience. Rising rents, which have also climbed at double-digit pace, according to the latest Realtor.com® Rental Trends Report, are motivating today’s first-time homebuyers, even as rising rents make it harder to scrape together a down payment. First-time buyers navigating this obstacle can find help from local downpayment resources at realtor.com/foreveryone.
- New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale–slipped after 2 weeks of gain. With the number of homes for sale still near a record low and down from one year ago, the number of new listings–newly for-sale homes–are a vital indicator for buyers. After two weeks of encouraging gains, which may have factored into the recent moderation in home price growth, this week’s data marked a setback. Seasonally, we tend to see the number of new listings peak on an absolute basis in May, so the market is likely to see more sellers in the future. In fact, recent data show that two-thirds of homeowners planning to sell this year will list their home by August. If listing your home this year is in your plan, start now by checking out this home seller’s how-to.
- Active inventory is down just 13 percent from a year ago. The number of homes for sale continues to be buoyed by the jump in new listings over the past few weeks, but with new listings slipping, the gap to last year’s level remained even with last week. As noted in the Realtor.com® March Housing Trends Report, active inventory was on track to surpass year ago levels by this summer as more sellers and fewer home sales left more options for shoppers. This week’s data highlights that this trend isn’t guaranteed to continue, but I do expect more new listings and improvement in active inventory in the weeks ahead.
- Homes spent 6 days less on the market than this time last year. Homes are still moving quickly, requiring buyers to submit offers soon after a listing is active in order to have the best chance at success. However, as homebuying takes up a larger chunk of household budgets, pushing some out of the market altogether, remaining buyers may eventually have more time to make decisions.
Data Summary:
| All Changes year-over-year | Year-to-Date 2022 | Week ending April 2, 2022 | Week ending April 9, 2022 | Week ending April 16, 2022 |
| Median Listing Prices | +13.1% | +15.3% | +14.9% | +13.6% |
| New Listings | -3% | +8% | +1% | -13% |
| Active Listings | -22% | -13% | -12% | -13% |
| Time on Market | 11 days faster | 9 days faster | 6 days faster | 6 days faster |
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