Demand Remains Strong as Inventory Plateaus

Republished By Plato

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Buyers and Sellers Take Note:
Demand Remains Strong as Inventory Plateaus

The 2021 real estate market continues to show positive signs for both buyers and sellers, but a far cry from the record-setting growth seen this past spring. After a slight dip around the July 4th holiday, as expected, the number of new listings under contract is once again rising and remains above the same period last year. However, the year-over-year growth is increasing at a lower rate than what we experienced in the spring. For the week ending July 19, there were 4,566 listings that went under contract, a 16% gain over the week before and a modest 1.5% increase over the same period in 2020.

New Listings Fall Below 2020
In another sign of the shifting market, new listings fell behind 2020 for the third week in a row. For the middle week of July, 7,893 residential listings were added compared to 8,161 for the same period last year – a 3.3% decrease. Compare this to the week two months prior when the number of new listings was 21.1% higher than the year before. With inventory growth over 2020 starting to plateau, demand is likely to remain high.

Closing Prices Remain High: Continued Good News for Sellers
In continued good news for sellers, median sales prices continue to remain high – hovering just below $300,000 for the week ending July 19, a healthy increase of 12.7% over a year-prior.

What does this mean for buyers and sellers?

People contemplating a sale of their home should act sooner rather than later to take advantage of prevailing market conditions: Median closing prices remain high and with inventory stabilizing, demand remains strong.

Buyers can be heartened by the fact that the super-heated seller’s market continues to show signs of evening out. Demand is still strong but with nearly 8,000 new listings each week, buyers stand a good chance of closing on the home of their dreams.