Published: May 14, 2023 | By: WRE News

Housing inventory levels remain stuck below pre-pandemic levels as fewer sellers are opting to list their homes and new house construction remains enervated.

According to the latest Monthly Housing Trends Report published by Realtor.com, active inventory growth slowed for the second straight month as the number of newly listed homes fell 21.3% year-over-year. And while active listings are 48.3 % higher from one year ago, they were also 50.5% below the pre-pandemic April 2019 level.

The combination of higher mortgage rates and home prices compared to one year ago resulted in an annual increase in the monthly cost of financing 80% of the typical home by roughly $340 (19.0%).

“A lack of new sellers and homes for sale continues to limit buyers’ choices and home sales. Many sellers are likely future buyers too, which may be why a majority of would-be sellers report feeling ‘locked in’ to their current home because of a low mortgage rate, especially younger homeowners,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com. “But older seller-buyers, who are likely to have a smaller mortgage balance and built up greater equity, are less likely to report feeling locked-in by a low interest rate and are more likely to report that they need to sell anyway. This likely means that older households will continue to play a prominent role on both sides of the home sale transaction this year.”