Housing Supply Overview
Nationally, sales of new single-family homes fell 2.5% month-over month as of last measure, marking the first monthly decline since February, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite the decrease, new-home sales are up 23.8% year-over-year, as a lack of existing home inventory has boosted demand for the new-home market in recent months. As a result, builder confidence has continued to improve, reaching a 13-month high in July, according to the latest NAHB / Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). For the 12-month period spanning August 2022 through July 2023, Pending Sales in the Western Upstate Association of REALTORS® region decreased 7.7 percent overall. The price range with the largest pending sales gain was the $750,001 to $1,000,000 range, where sales went up 14.8 percent.
The overall Median Sales Price increased 8.9 percent to $281,040. The property type with the largest gain was the Single-Family Homes segment, where prices improved 9.4 percent to $290,000. The price range that tended to sell the quickest was the $150,000 and Below range at 50 days. The price range that tended to sell the slowest was the $750,001 to $1,000,000 range at 86 days.
Market-wide, inventory levels improved 9.0 percent. The property type with the largest gain was the Single-Family Homes segment, where the number of properties for sale increased 8.4 percent. That amounts to 3.0 months of inventory for Single-Family Homes and 3.2 months of inventory for Condos.
Monthly Indicators
Affordability constraints have continued to limit homebuying activity this summer, with existing-home sales falling 3.3% month-over-month nationwide as of last measure, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). Mortgage rates have approached 7% in recent months, leading many prospective buyers to put their home purchase plans temporarily on hold. But higher rates have also kept many existing homeowners from listing their homes for fear of giving up the low-rate mortgages they locked in a few years ago, when rates were significantly lower.
New Listings were down 11.4 percent to 677. Pending Sales decreased 19.6 percent to 465. Inventory grew 9.0 percent to 1,509 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 8.5 percent to $299,900. Days on Market increased 26.1 percent to 58 days. Months Supply of Inventory was up 19.2 percent to 3.1 months, indicating that supply increased relative to demand.
Despite a drop in existing-home sales, home prices have remained near record highs, with a national median sales price of $410,200 as of last measure, 0.9% below the all-time high of $413,800 recorded in June 2022, according to NAR. With only 3.1 months’ supply heading into July, the lack of inventory has boosted competition among buyers and put upward pressure on sales prices, especially in more affordable markets, where competition for homes remains particularly strong.
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