Home Supply Dips for First Time in 10 Months

Redfin reports that the number of homes for sale fell 0.3% year-over-year in late June, the first annual decline since September of last year.

This marks the end of a brief respite for buyers in this years-old seller’s market. If supply growth continues falling at the rate it has been since April, by September the number of homes for sale will be down from a year earlier by more than 4 percent.

However, the national numbers mask a huge amount of regional variation under the surface. As of late June, 32 of the 46 largest U.S. metro areas had fewer homes for sale compared to a year earlier. In fact, in some of the country’s most affordable housing markets, the inventory crunch never subsided. For example, Oklahoma City, where the median price of homes sold in May was just $184,900, had 15.3 percent fewer homes for sale in late June compared to a year earlier and has not seen year-over-year growth since going negative in late 2016. Other affordable metro areas like Memphis and Pittsburgh have similar stories.

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