Fewer first-time homebuyers are competing these days
Existing-home sales grew by 2.0% in July from the month prior, a report published by the National Association of Realtors on Monday found. But first-time homebuyers are still getting squeezed.
Completed sales transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, represented a seasonally adjusted annual rate of just under 6 million (5.99 million) in July, according to NAR. A year ago, the annual rate was 5.90 million, so sales grew year-over-year by 1.5%.
A notable development: After a year of extremely tight housing inventory, the housing market is showing signs of finally adding housing stock. The inventory of unsold homes rose by 7.3% to 1.32 million from June to July, the report found. However, even with the availability of more homes on the market, inventory for homebuyers is down 12% from 2020 (1.5 million).
Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, said in a statement that as inventory starts to tick up, the intensity of multiple offers will lessen, leading to a more balanced housing market for homebuyers.
“Much of the home sales growth is still occurring in the upper-end markets, while the mid-to lower-tier areas aren’t seeing as much growth because there are still too few starter homes available,” Yun added.
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