August Housing Markets Still Down, but Less So

Based on the number of closed sales, new listings, and active inventory in a sample of 40 local markets around the U.S., the CalculatedRisk Newsletter found that August existing-home sales volume was near a cyclical low, but that new listings, while also down year-over-year, were down less than in previous months.

For new listings data in August in the metro areas tracked, new listings were down 10.1% year-over-year (compared with -22.3% in July and -25.0% in June), with many potential sellers staying put in their current homes because they're locked into their existing low mortgage rates, which then pushes down new listings.

Last month, new listings in these markets were down 22.3% YoY. The decline in new listing in August - for these areas - was much smaller than the YoY decline for the last several months.

This is partially due to the collapse in new listings in the 2nd half of 2022 and also some pickup in new listings. It seems likely new listings will be up YoY later this year, but still at historically low levels.

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