Talk to a Realtor® in much of the country right now and they’ll all echo a similar narrative: homes are selling quickly because there are not enough listings on the market.
It’s why existing sales stumbled in February and price growth accelerated to its fastest pace in over a year (7.7 percent). Even more staggering, inventory has now fallen year-over-year for 21 straight months and homes last month sold 14 days faster than last February.
Is this an indicator of things to come as the spring buying season heats up?
One sign of hope is that a larger share of homeowners in NAR’s first quarter HOME survey said that now is a good time to sell a home. However, as NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun pointed out at today’s press conference, new home construction is what’s really needed to slow price growth and allow supply to catch up with demand.
The first two months of 2017 have been up and down. If you’re looking for clues on how the coming months will pan out, listen closely to the sounds of drills and hammers in your neighborhood.
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