by Calculated Risk on 7/17/2023 12:57:00 PM

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Will house prices decline further later this year?

A brief excerpt:

In November 2021, I wrote Inventory will Tell the Tale and recounted how changes in housing inventory had helped me forecast the housing market at several key points.

I believe inventory will tell the tale. That is why I watch inventory closely.

So, based on the low level of inventory in March 2022, I wrote Housing: Don't Compare the Current Housing Boom to the Bubble and Bust, and I expected a decline in real house prices (inflation adjusted), and little decline in nominal prices.

I noted we could be fairly confident that we wouldn’t see cascading nominal price declines like during the housing bust since there would be few distressed sales.

Then, as inventory picked up sharply in 2022, I adjusted my outlook in October 2022 and wrote House Prices: 7 Years in Purgatory. I noted that a 10% decline in nominal prices “now seemed likely”.

Here is a graph of active listing from Realtor.com through June. Note the surge in inventory in mid-2022 as mortgage rates increased.

However, the inventory surge in 2022 was somewhat of a head fake! Some potential sellers quickly listed their homes, probably remembering what happened with house prices in the 2006 to 2011 period, but that surge ended pretty quickly.

There is much more in the article. You can subscribe at https://calculatedrisk.substack.com/