Housing market is heating up for summer

This month, homes are moving off of the market 2 percent more quickly than in June 2015, according to realtor.com®.

Jonathan Smoke, chief economist of realtor.com®, suggests that 65 days will be the median age for homes on the market across the country in June, which is equivalent to May’s median age. Interestingly, 100 of the 300 medium to large markets in the study saw a decline in the days homes spent on the market, compared to last month. And some of the realtor.com®-named hottest markets saw a slight decrease in sales.

“In June, for the first time that I can recall, the hottest real estate markets saw inventory movement slow down, while the rest of the country saw inventory speed up,” said Smoke. “We’ve essentially seen how low the age of inventory can go.”

However, Smoke said this should not be concerning, as homes nationwide are still spending less time on the market overall.

The trend of high demand and low inventory leading to higher prices and quick sales has continued throughout this year, but homes for sale have increased over the past months. However, there are 5 percent fewer homes on the market now compared to June 2015. Smoke estimates 525,000 homes will come onto the market by the end of the month, which would be an increase of 3 percent over May, but will still not meet market demand, as prices continue to climb.

The median home price listing is $252,000, an 8 percent increase over June 2015, and a 1 percent increase over May. However, Smoke pointed out that low mortgage rates are helping people afford the additional costs.

The hottest markets this month continue to be in California.