Sam Ro at Axios reported on Tuesday morning that the number of homes available for sale is rising, which is good news for prospective buyers who have been getting priced out of the market. (AXIOS)
Ro points out that the data has been trending in buyers’ favor for a few months now…
- Total housing inventory in July stood at 1.32 million units a 7.3% jump from the previous month and was “the sixth straight month of increases. Inventory is now 28% higher from its February low of 1.03 million.”
Despite this recent growth in inventory Justin LaHart at The Wall Street Journal says there could be another problem that is going to keep home sales depressed for the near future… (Wall Street Journal)
Home sales are starting to rise and some believe that is because builders have begun putting more homes on the block. However, LaHart thinks home prices could be playing a bigger role than some realize…
- “…rising new-home prices, brought on in part by higher labor and materials costs, have put new homes out of reach for too many would-be buyers. This isn’t something that public home builders themselves have been saying…but that doesn’t mean it can’t be partly true.”
Inventory’s value seems to be directly correlated to the impact that it has on prices. I think the real question, or debate, is what prices will have to do to get buyers off the sidelines? Will a cooling-off be enough or will prices have to start falling to entice would-be buyers back to the market? Only time will tell…