Price cuts hit a five-year high
There are more green shoots for would-be home buyers this spring as inventory grows to its highest point since 2020, according to Realtor.com’s monthly report.
Key points:
- Price reductions “will be much more common than they were in 2020 to early 2022,” Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale said.
- The South, and Florida in particular, are seeing some of the highest percentages of price reductions.
- Homes actively for sale are 23.5% higher than a year ago.
It's still a difficult environment this spring, but there are hopeful signs for potential home buyers.
Price reductions are becoming more prevalent as homes actively for sale continue to grow, according to Realtor.com's March Housing Report. Price reductions rose to 15% last month, up 2.2 percentage points compared to a year ago. That's the highest level in five years at a time when homes actively for sale are 23.5% higher than a year ago.
The South region saw price reductions rise 3.5 percentage points year-over-year, followed by the Midwest (up 1 percentage point), Northwest (up 0.5) and West (up 0.2).
"Sellers are starting to warm up to the current environment, wading into the market in increasing numbers despite market mortgage rates that are likely above their existing rate, if they have a mortgage," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.
While price reductions are up compared to recent years, Hale said they are roughly on par with what was happening in 2019.
"This suggests to me that price reductions are likely to mirror those pre-pandemic years this spring, which means that price cuts will be much more common than they were in 2020 through early 2022," Hale said.
When it comes to inventory, Hale and other economists are watching pending listings to see if rising inventory is bringing out more buyers. It's early, but so far homes that are listed are generally selling quickly.
"I would keep an eye on both pending listings and time on market for signs of lagging buyer interest, but so far, we aren't seeing it," Hale said.
Florida seeing higher rates of price reductions
Florida is seeing some of the highest rates of price reductions, according to the report. Four of the 10 highest metro areas were in the Sunshine State, with Tampa topping the list at 27.6%. Texas had three metro areas on the list: Austin (22.3%), San Antonio (21.8%) and Dallas (19.5%).
While the elevated mortgage interest rates make this a less-than-ideal season for buyers, the increase in listings will help thaw out some markets and lead to more sales, said Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic.
"Nevertheless, the overall imbalance between buyers and sellers persists and will likely mean another competitive spring home-buying season and sustained home price gains," Hepp said. "In markets with new construction, new builds are the way to go as homebuilders continue to offer incentives to motivated buyers to help defray the current high-interest rate environment."
Active listings continue to climb
Inventory of homes actively for sale in the first quarter was at its highest level since 2020, according to the report. Even so, inventory is still down 37.7% compared to pre-pandemic levels in March 2019.
Florida leads the way in rising inventory. Tampa's active inventory is up 58.3% year-over-year, while Orlando is up 53.3% while Miami's inventory has increased 48.2%.
The overall rise in inventory is mainly coming at the $200,000 to $350,000 price range, providing some opportunities for first-time buyers.