by Calculated Risk on 10/03/2024 02:42:00 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 September, Realtor.com reported inventory was up 34.0% YoY, but still down 23.2% compared to the 2017 to 2019 same month levels. 

 Now - on a weekly basis - inventory is up 31.9% YoY.

Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report: Weekly Housing Trends View—Data for Week Ending Sept. 28, 2024

• Active inventory increased, with for-sale homes 31.9% above year-ago levels

For the 47th consecutive week dating to November 2023, the number of listings for sale has grown year over year, and this week continues a string of growth rates in the mid-30% range that started in April. There were more homes for sale this week than in any week since January 2020, pre-pandemic. Much of the inventory buildup is due to more seller activity than buyer activity, but falling mortgage rates could mean more buyers enter the market in the coming weeks.

• New listings—a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale—jumped 1.7% this week compared with a year ago

The number of new listings has continued to increase, though at a slower pace. This slowdown isn’t entirely surprising, as a rate cut has been widely anticipated, eager sellers may have already acted by listing their homes in the weeks leading up to the Fed’s announcement. Looking ahead, with another rate cut expected before the end of 2024, we anticipate that more sellers will feel “unlocked,” as the prevailing mortgage rates come into closer alignment with their current rates.

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

Inventory was up year-over-year for the 46th consecutive week.  

However, inventory is still historically low.

New listings remain below typical pre-pandemic levels.