Potential home sellers who were staying out of the market, thinking that the market was slow or there would be a coronavirus discount on their asking price, might want to reconsider.
Sales of existing homes soared 24.7% in July from June, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s the strongest monthly gain in the history of the survey, going back to 1968, and the highest sales pace since December 2006.
Sales were 8.7% higher compared with July 2019.
The supply of existing homes plummeted 21.1% annually, with just 1.5 million homes for sale at the end of July. This figure represents a 3.1-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 4.2-month supply a year earlier. It’s the lowest July supply in the history of the inventory survey, which has been tracking single-family supply data since 1982.
“The new listings are running a little higher than one year ago but all those new listings are being grabbed by the buyers and taken off the market,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors.
