Will We See an Increase in Inventory?

Properties hitting the market increased nearly 11% in June from May, which is also an increase of 5.5% from June 2020.

However, active listings dropped 43.1% over the last year, and total inventory of unsold homes fell 20.3%, according to the Realtor.com^® Monthly Housing Report.  Home prices hit a record high for the fifth consecutive month, reaching $385,000, an increase of 12.7% compared to 2020. However, Pittsburgh still remains one of the most affordable metros, with a median listing price of $262,000, an increase of 6.1% year over year.

But buyers must be quick. Homes are still not lasting on the market particularly long. On average, a home spent about 37 days on the market, compared to 72 days last June. Most sellers are receiving offers fairly soon after listing. But according to a recent report from Redfin, bidding wars are slowing down this summer. While the majority of properties are still receiving several offers, the number has dropped month to month. The report found that in June, only 65% of listed homes had competitive offers, a drop from 72.1% in May and 74.1% in April.

Yet, consumers may be feeling frustrated. Unable to find a home, many are turning to or sticking with renting. But rent prices are soaring. Realtor.com^®  found that rental prices across the country are at their highest in two years. Year to year, rents are up 8.1%, reaching $1,575 per month. Not surprisingly, rents for two-bedrooms increased the most, at 10.2% year to year, as many people left more urban dwellings for suburbs. Studio apartments saw the smallest increases in price, at only 4%.

“The surge we’re seeing in rental prices is likely to exacerbate the K-shaped, or uneven, nature of the pandemic recovery in the U.S. Rents are rising at a faster pace than income, which is adding to the challenges faced by lower-income Americans as they struggle to recover from job losses and other hardships brought about by COVID,” said Realtor.com^® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “Looking forward, rents aren’t expected to slow unless we see a fundamental shift in the number of homes for sale and for rent.”