Let's talk about the Olympics! Did you see theteenager from Alaska win the 100-meter breaststroke?? What about the shot of herhometown fans jumping around like they were in a mosh pit? Seriously the best thing I've seen in a while.
Ok, housing! The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shillerhome price stats show the red-hot demand for housing in May, with an annual increase of more than 16%. However, comparisons to last May — when we had shutdowns all over the country — definitely magnify the price growth. More important might be the month-over-month stats, which show every region logged double-digit gains from April to May.
But that was then and this is now. What does the housing market look like right now? It's so hard to tell, because even more recent reports are still mostly talking about June. And of course, all real estate is local. Still, it seems safe to say that the housing market is cooling just a bit. Like, a very little bit.
Consider:
Last week, we reported thatmortgage apps fell slightly in June compared to May, but only slightly.
Housing starts in June rose 6.3% from May but building permits were down 5.1% from May.
Average housing inventory nationally is now at 5.53 months, which means inventory is now in the range we had in the previous expansion.
Inventory has been the pain point for the entire year, so that last stat is key. The number of homes available in one very hot market, Sacramento, seems to reflect the upswing the market so desperately needs. Appraiser Ryan Lundquist(@SacAppraiser) tweeted out that 435 new listings hit the market in Sacramento last week. "On any given day, there are over 2,000 listings, which is so much better than about 1,200 earlier in the year."
For HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami, that inventory level is key. In hislatest article, he looks at whether we are back to a "normal" housing market and how builders/new homes factor into that answer.
Until tomorrow (and after more Olympic watching) —
Sarah Wheeler
HousingWire Editor in Chief
P.S. Join HW+ today to gain access to an exclusive Q&A with Mohtashami tomorrow, 7/28 at 12 Central. You'll be able to directly ask him any questions you have on what to make of the latest housing data, his forecast for the rest of this year, and whether or not the housing market is returning to normal.
Today's episode of HousingWire Daily continues with the latest episode of the Women of Influence podcast miniseries. This episode features 2020 Woman of Influence Courtney Poulos, Broker/Owner of ACME Real Estate and co-founder of ACME Florida.
Foreign buyers purchased $54.4 billion worth of U.S. existing homes from April 2020 through March 2021, a 27% decrease from the previous 12-month period.
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