Realtor.com reports a 33.2% increase in active inventory year over year

Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing real estate market. Here is their weekly report: Weekly Housing Trends View – data for the week ending September 21, 2024

• Active inventory increased, with homes for sale up 33.2% year-over-year.

For the 46th consecutive week since November 2023, the number of listings for sale has increased year-over-year, and this week continues a streak of mid-30 percent growth that began in April. There were more homes for sale this week than at any time since January 2020, before the pandemic. Much of the inventory build is due to stronger seller activity than buyer activity, but falling mortgage rates could lead to more buyers entering the market in the coming weeks.

• New listings – a measure of the number of sellers listing homes for sale – rose 8.0% this week compared to a year ago.

As the recent cut in mortgage rates continued to encourage many sellers to return to the market, year-over-year growth in new listings continued this week. With mortgage rates at their lowest level in nearly two years, eager sellers are jumping at the chance to put their home up for sale in hopes of getting in on the fall buyer activity. This trend is expected to continue as interest rates continue to fall and more sellers become “unlocked.”

Here is a graph of year-over-year inventory change according to realtor.com.

Inventory increased year-over-year for the 46th consecutive year.

However, inventory levels are still historically low.

New listings remain below typical pre-pandemic levels.