Market Report - May 2021
As the weather warms and pandemic restrictions ease across much of the country, the U.S. housing market shows little sign of cooling. Robust buyer demand, fueled by low mortgage rates, continues to outpace supply, which remains near historic lows. Nationwide, inventory remains much lower than it was at this time last year, and sales prices are surging as a result.
New Listings were up 26.1 percent to 671. Pending Sales increased 3.0 percent to 611. Inventory shrank 71.3 percent to 621 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 26.2 percent to $410,000. Days on Market decreased 27.1 percent to 97 days. Months Supply of Inventory was down 81.6 percent to 0.9 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.
With such limited supply of existing homes to purchase, all eyes are on home builders to provide a much-needed boost of inventory to the market to help meet buyer demand. However, increasing material and labor costs, along with supply chain challenges, have contributed to significantly higher construction costs, with builders passing these costs on to homebuyers. And while the warmer temperatures, rising sales prices, and the reopening of the economy may draw more sellers to the market, historically low levels of homes for sale are likely to continue for some time.