by Calculated Risk on 4/28/2024 12:39:00 PM

What this means: On a weekly basis, Realtor.com reports the year-over-year change in active inventory and new listings. On a monthly basis, they report total inventory. For March, Realtor.com reported inventory was up 23.5% YoY, but still down almost 38% compared to March 2017 to 2019 levels. 

 Now - on a weekly basis - inventory is up 31.7% YoY.

Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report: Weekly Housing Trends View—Data Week Ending April 20, 2024

• Active inventory increased, with for-sale homes 31.7% above year-ago levels.

For the 24th straight week, there were more homes listed for sale versus the prior year, giving homebuyers more options. As mortgage rates have climbed to new 2024 highs, we could see sellers adjust their plans, since nearly three-quarters of potential sellers also play to buy a home. However, the long build-up to listing–80% have been thinking about selling for 1 to 3 years–could mean that this year’s sellers are less-deterred by market fluctuations.

• New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale–were up this week, by 13.5% from one year ago.

Since February, the number of homes newly listed for sale has surpassed year ago pace by double-digit with the exception of a few weeks around this year’s spring holidays. As reported in the Realtor.com March housing report, newly listed homes trailed behind every prior year except 2023’s record low.

Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in inventory according to realtor.com. 

Inventory was up year-over-year for the 24th consecutive week.  

However, inventory is still historically very low.

New listings remain below typical pre-pandemic levels although increasing.