Buyers are seeing more options as housing market hits its late-summer slowdown

About this update from Zillow Group, Inc.

[{"type":"text","content":"The drought of new listings abated slightly in August, despite high mortgage rates\nNew listings rose 4% in August, giving buyers more new choices. Appreciation eased off the gas, rising just 0.2% from July to August after stronger earlier showings.Competition for homes remains stiff, but sales declined as is typical at this time of year.SEATTLE, Sept. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- An expected end-of-summer slowdown in the housing market came with a pleasant surprise for home shoppers in August. The latest market report1 from Zillow® shows an uptick of new listings. Although sellers are still listing fewer houses than pre-pandemic norms, the monthly increase gave buyers a bit of relief in the midst of a long-standing drought of inventory. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n\"Those still shopping for homes late in summer were offered a bit of relief, and not all from expected sources. Competition for houses tends to ease up at this time of year, giving buyers more time to decide and a better chance to negotiate on price,\" said Jeff Tucker, Zillow senior economist. \"What we didn't expect — especially considering 7-plus-percent mortgage rates — was more new listings. The inventory crunch is still far from resolved, but this was a small step in the right direction.\"\nSellers listed nearly 350,000 homes for sale across the U.S. in August, about 4% more than in July. Although the number of new listings are more than 20% below pre-pandemic norms, the uptick gave shoppers a few fresh choices at a time of year when the flow of inventory is typically drying up; new listings have contracted every August in Zillow data going back to 2018. The slight upward bump helped to halve an annual deficit in new listings, from -26% year over year in July to -13% in August. \nHomeowners who bought or refinanced to ultra-low mortgage rates in 2020 or 2021 have been loath to sell, which has kept new listings at seasonal record lows (with the exception of April 2020) for 14 straight months. Total inventory also ticked up in August, rising 2.2% from July. However, inventory levels are still about 42% below that of August 2019. \nHeading into fall, shoppers can generally expect more modest price growth and less competition compared to the peak seasons of spring and early summer — and that's what Zillow data is showing. \nThe typical U.S. home value climbed 0.2% from ...

More updates from Zillow Group, Inc.