Our research team releases monthly housing trends reports. These regular 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. Generally, you can look forward to a Weekly Housing Trends View and the latest weekly housing data on Thursdays and weekly video from our economists. Here’s what the housing market looked like over the past week.
What this week’s data means
Last week kicked off with the Memorial Day holiday, ushering in the summer season and the summer housing market. As is typical during a holiday week, new listings grew at a slightly slower pace annually compared with previous weeks, but the housing market continued to shift in a buyer-friendly direction.
As a whole, May boasted a new post-pandemic high in for-sale inventory, driven by large inventory gains in the West (+40.7% YoY) and the South (+32.9% YoY). The South and West have led the U.S. in inventory recovery, with homes for sale climbing beyond pre-pandemic norms. International buyers have taken notice and are shopping in many well-supplied markets. However, the Midwest and Northeast still face scarce inventory levels, with for-sale homes down 41% and 52.4% compared with pre-pandemic. Homebuilding has failed to keep up with demand in these regions, widening the supply gap and keeping upward pressure on home prices.
Key national findings
- New listings—a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale—rose 4.2% year over year
New listings rose again last week on an annual basis, up 4.2% compared with the same period last year, though growth slowed compared with the previous week. Monday’s Memorial Day holiday likely affected listing activity for the week. The momentum that began earlier this spring remains strong, signaling a vibrant market with an increased number of home options as summer approaches. Desp