“Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.”
Speaking of inventory, it increased 5.9% month-over-month to 1.07M units and up 10.3% year over year. There is a 2.9-month supply of homes in unsold inventory, which is tight, because 4-5 months is considered normal.
The median home price was $385,000, up 1.4% from last month and 5.7% from last year. According to the Realtors Confidence Index, homes remained on the market for 38 days which was an increase from 36 days in January and 34 days in February 2023. First-time homebuyers made up 26% of sales, down from 28% in January and 27% in February 2023. All-cash buyers accounted for 33% of sales, up from 32%. Individual investors or second home buyers made up 21%, up from 17% in last month’s report. Investors are seeing a strengthening opportunity in housing.
Distressed Sales only made up 3% of sales for the month and were unchanged from January and from last year.
One in five homes sold above the list price, showing that it’s still a competitive market and demand is still fierce.
Source : https://bit.ly/4a0IaEQ
By: Jon Iacono