Weekly New Listings, Pending Sales Spike, While Inventory Remains Tight

Weekly pending sales and new listings are on the rise, ending another chaotic month for the housing market on a high note. Buyers and sellers are returning to market as states reopen and public health policies gain clarity, and though inventory remains sparse, the housing market is looking better than it has in months. Newly pending home sales are up 40.8 percent from a month ago, and new listings jumped 37.8 percent. Even prices, which have remained generally stable during the pandemic, edged up 3.5 percent for the month. Because of these encouraging signs, Zillow adjusted its forecast from a 2.7 percent drop to a 1.8 percent drop through October.

This week brought more evidence of buyers and sellers returning to the market as newly pending sales and new listings are up from the previous week, and Zillow web traffic on for-sale listings is holding steady well above last year’s level. Inventory continues to be incredibly tight — one reason list prices are growing faster than they were in April. Partly on the strength of that rebound, Zillow’s forecast now shows an expected 1.8% drop in home prices through October, up from the 2.7% drop expected just weeks ago.

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