Good news everyone.
Existing-home sales dropped 2% to a seasonally-adjusted, annual rate of 5.88 million in August, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Compared with August 2020, home sales were down 1.5%.
“Although there was a decline in home purchases, potential buyers are out and about searching, but much more measured about their financial limits, and simply waiting for more inventory,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said in the report.
The good news for would-be buyers is that the inventory of homes for sale is improving. Since the low reached in the winter, inventory has risen roughly 16%, according to an analysis from Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. At the same time, price appreciation has slowed, with home prices now rising by less than 1%, according to Shepherdson’s calculations, rather than more than 2% per month at the market’s peak.
“These trends are likely to continue, as sellers realize that the window for cashing-in at the best prices appears to be closing,” Shepherdson wrote.