The number of homes for sale nationally declined 0.3 percent year-over-year in June, the first such decline since September, according to a report from Redfin.
Redfin said if supply growth continues falling at the rate it has been since April, by September the number of homes for sale will be down from a year earlier by more than 4 percent.
“Lower interest rates are bringing buyers back, but without enough homes for sale to meet demand, we expect to see more bidding wars, which will push prices up this summer,” Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said in a release. “We expect small, inland markets where a typical home is still affordable for a middle-class family, to heat up the most.
“Those markets, like Knoxville [Tenn.] and Akron [Ohio] are already experiencing double-digit annual price growth, and there is a lot of room for prices to continue to grow,” Fairweather said. “Expensive metros like San Jose [Calif.] and Seattle may see moderate price growth this summer, but for the most part those markets have already peaked.”
According to the report, 32 of the 46 largest U.S. metropolitan areas had fewer homes for sale during June compared with a year earlier. Oklahoma City, where the median price of homes sold in May was $184,900, had 15.3 percent fewer homes for sale in late June compared with a year earlier and has not seen year-over-year growth since late 2016.
Redfin said the metropolitan areas that gained the most homes for sale compared with a year earlier were San Jose (up 43.6 percent) ; Seattle (up 21.9 percent); and Boston (up 21.3 percent).