Homes for Sale Are Piling Up, Just Not Where the Buyers Are
There is more resale housing inventory on the market than at any time since July 2020, but transactions continue to be anemic.
More homes are coming on the market, but transactions remain slow.
Photographer: Brandon Bell/Getty Images North AmericaLately the housing market has faced a different conundrum at every turn. This year’s puzzle is the disconnect between an aggressive rise in the number of existing homes for sale and still sluggish transactions.
There are two reasons for this. The first has to do with which markets are seeing the fastest growth in resale inventory, while the second is more about the “vibes.” The bottom line is that in most of the country, even as the number of for-sale homes increases, we can still expect sellers to wait for buyers to come to them rather than chasing would-be buyers with discounts.