U.S. Home Sales Stall as Buyer Stampede Leaves Scant Inventory
U.S. Home Sales Stall as Buyer Stampede Leaves Scant Inventory
(Bloomberg) -- In the most competitive housing market in U.S. history, sales are beginning to stall.
Home transactions fell 1.2% in June from May, the largest drop for the month in records going back to 2012, according to seasonally adjusted data from Redfin Corp. The inventory reached an all-time low, with buyers scooping up properties in 14 days, the fastest pace ever.
Remote work combined with rock-bottom mortgage rates unleashed a stampede of buyers to the suburbs and affordable cities across the U.S. The median home price in June jumped 25% from a year earlier to a record $386,888.
“We entered a new phase of the housing market,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a statement. “Prices have increased beyond what many buyers can afford.”
Values rose from a year earlier in all of the 85 metro areas Redfin tracks. The biggest jump was in Austin, Texas, at 43%. Following were Lake County, Illinois, with a 31% gain, and Phoenix, at 30%.
San Francisco, one of the country’s most expensive markets, had the smallest increase, at 2.6%.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.