Short home supply across the country continues to hamper home sales.
According to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales across the country in August was down mostly due to an overall shortage in housing supply.
“With the exception of a minimal gain in the West, pending sales were weaker in most areas in July as house hunters saw limited options for sale and highly competitive market conditions,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “The housing market remains stuck in a holding pattern with little signs of breaking through. The pace of new listings is not catching up with what’s being sold at an astonishingly fast pace.”
Birmingham was no exception to this during July, seeing another year-over-year decline in home supply.
The 6,670 homes listed on the market were 10 percent below last July’s numbers.
This could explain why home sales in the Birmingham area remained stagnant during July, with just a 0.3 percent rise over last July.
The 1,369 homes sold during the month was 12 percent below June’s numbers. There were also 4.9 months of housing supply on the market, meaning at the current pace, it would take just 4.9 months for the market to absorb the supply.
