The U.S. housing market shifted in favor of buyers during the summer, according to Realtor.com’s August Monthly Housing Report. As the market continues a slow rebalancing, six of the 50 largest U.S. metros are now considered buyer's markets.
Realtor chief economist Danielle Hale said the national housing market is now the most balanced it has been in the past 10 years, with five months of supply. The months of supply measurement theoretically estimates the number of months it would take to sell all currently listed homes for the current sales price. The metric holds that fewer than four months of supply indicates a seller's market, while more than six months favors buyers. Anywhere in between is considered a balanced market.
Miami is the best market for buyers with 9.7 months of supply, followed by Orlando, New York, Jacksonville, Tampa and Riverside, California. Each of these metros also saw prices fall in August on a per-square-foot basis, according to the online marketplace. Regions that continue to favor sellers, and as a result support stronger price growth, include Milwaukee with 2.7 months of supply, followed by St. Louis, Grand Rapids and Boston. Balanced metros include Los Angeles, Denver and Portland.
Overall, Southern markets, particularly in Florida and Texas, dominate the buyer's market group, while most of the Northeast and Midwest remain seller's markets, said the report. Buyer's markets also align with areas where new homes are more abundant.
Housing market balance is being driven by an increase in listings, which were up 20.9% year-over-year in August. Listings have risen for 22 straight months and have exceeded one million listings for the past four months. However, Realtor noted that the pace is slowing.
Amid the favorable shift to buyers, sellers are showing signs of frustration, primarily in the form of removing properties from the market. Across the country, de-listings increased 57% in July and are up 41% for the year. The ratio of removals from the market to new listings climbed from 0.17 a year ago to 0.24 in July, which means that for every 100 new listings that came online, 24 previously listed homes were taken down without a sale. The highest delisting-to-listing ratio was most prevalent in Miami, where 57 homes were off the market for every 100 new listings.
Meanwhile, demand-side indicators also reveal a cooling market, with pending home sales dipping 1.3% year-over-year in August while new listings grew just 4.9%, marking the fourth month of slowing momentum. In addition, time on the market has increased for 17 months.
The national median list price remained unchanged from last year at $429,990, down 2.2% month-over-month. Year-over-year prices ticked up slightly in the Northeast, remained steady in the Midwest and South and edged lower in the West, the report said.
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