“With new and existing supply failing to catch up with demand, several markets this summer will continue to see homes going under contract at this remarkably fast pace of under a month,” Yun says. The metro areas where listings stayed on the market the shortest amount of time in May, according to inventory data , were:
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.: 20 days
- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.: 24 days
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.: 25 days
- Salt Lake City: 26 days
- Ogden-Clearfield, Utah: 26 days.
With the median sales price for existing homes reaching a new high last “crisis” in some areas of the country, says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS®. Higher-priced homes now make up the majority of available inventory—which is the lowest it’s been in decades—making it harder for home buyers to achieve homeownership.
“There is a housing shortage everywhere and a housing crisis in some markets,” Yun says. Here's how sales in different price ranges fared in May:- Under $100,000: Down 7 percent year over year
- $100,000-$250,000: Up 2 percent
- $500,000-$1 million: Up 20 percent
- Above $1 million: Up 30 percent
- The National Association of Realtors reports that the median price of an existing home is $252,800, a 5.8 percent increase from the price reported in May 2016.
“Because of the run-up in home prices, it’s making it more difficult for renters to convert into homeownership,” Yun says. However, the surge in home prices is working out well for current homeowners, who are enjoying rising equity. The share of existing homes purchased by first-time buyers dropped to 33 percent in May, down a percentage point from April, NAR reports. However, first-time buyers comprise more of the market than a year ago, when they made up 30 percent of sales.
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