Inventory Rose In May For The First Time Since June 2019

Inventory increased for the first time since June 2019, with active listings up 8% YOY, according to Realtor.com’s May housing data.

An inventory increase is a good sign for the market, which is facing pressure as rising rates and soaring home prices are causing potential buyers to back off. The national median listing price in May was $447,000, up 17.6% YOY and 35.4% from May 2020.

Purchase loan applications are down 14% YOY, reaching their lowest level since December 2018.

However, active listings were still down 48.5% from May 2020, meaning inventory is still half of what it once was. And while active listings grew, the total inventory of unsold homes, including pending listings, fell by 3.9% thanks to a decline in pending inventory.

Still, newly listed homes rose 6.3% YOY across the country and 4.6% in large metros.

Inventory is an important factor in how the housing market will move change now that it’s showing signs of cooling.

“My view has been that the market shift will show up first in inventory, [because] as inventory increases, house-price growth will slow,” Bill McBride, a real-estate and economics writer, told The Atlantic.

McBride predicted the housing bubble in 2006 by watching inventory levels.