by Calculated Risk on 11/07/2024 04:01:00 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 26.6% 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 Nov. 2, 2024

• Active inventory increased, with for-sale homes 26.6% above year-ago levels.

For the 52nd consecutive week, the number of listings for sale has grown year-over-year. Inventory has climbed annually for a full calendar year, due in part to slowing buyer activity. This week’s growth was lower than last week’s, the sixth week of slowing growth, and the lowest annual change since late March.

• New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale–climbed 4.6% this week compared to one year ago.

The number of new listings on the market picked up compared to the same week last year. The recent upward trajectory of mortgage rates could largely discourage sellers from listing their homes as roughly 84% of outstanding mortgages have a rate of 6% or lower. However, mortgage rates are expected to ease in the coming months, which could ‘unlock’ some eager buyers.

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

Inventory was up year-over-year for the 52nd consecutive week.  

However, inventory is still historically low.

New listings remain below typical pre-pandemic levels.