Why one region of America has over HALF of the housing inventory
Potential homebuyers may want to turn their attention to the South as new data shows the country is experiencing an affordable housing boom.
About 56.7 percent of all available housing in April was in the southern states, according to a new report from Realtor.com.
Available inventory was up 19.7 percent year over year, while it rose 18.4 percent in the Midwest, 7.5 percent in the West and 2.9 percent in the Northeast.
A national housing shortage has been a driving factor in keeping prices artificially high in the face of rising mortgage rates.
However, Realtor.com’s analysis suggests the trend is reversing. Over the past three months, the number of homes priced between $200,000 and $350,000 coming onto the market has surpassed all other price categories.
Potential homebuyers may want to turn their attention to the South as new data shows the country is experiencing an affordable housing boom. Austin (pictured) saw new home supply grow 36.1% year over year
About 56.7 percent of all available homes in April were in the southern states, according to a new report from Realtor.com. The number of new listings in Atlanta (pictured) has increased 27.4 percent since last year
The southern metropolitan areas with the greatest inventory growth were in Florida.
Tampa saw a 69.5 percent increase in available housing, while Orlando and Jacksonville recorded 64.2 percent and 59.1 percent, respectively.
Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said: βThe number of homes actively for sale was significantly higher compared to last year.
‘Sellers continued to offer houses more often than last year. This has led to a promising increase in the number of affordable owner-occupied homes, especially in the South.’
Across the board, home prices rose seasonally from $424,900 in March to $430,000 in April β a figure that remained flat from last year.
βOn the one hand, there is a small contingent of buyers who are really eager for home prices to collapse so that affordability improves and they can become homeowners,β Hale said.
‘This group is probably disappointed by fixed pricing. But if long-term affordability has bottomed out, a flat price trend is one way the market corrects.β
A national housing shortage has been a driving factor in keeping prices artificially high in the face of rising mortgage rates. Dallas (photo) saw the number of available homes increase by 20.7%
The number of new homes in Jacksonville, Florida (pictured) has grown by 22.5% over the past year
The housing market has remained surprisingly buoyant, despite experts predicting that high mortgage rates would dampen demand.
The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate home loan is currently 7.17 percent, Freddie Mac data shows.
Home loans have been boosted by the Federal Reserve’s aggressive tightening cycle, which has pushed interest rates to a 23-year high.
In real terms, this means that a buyer purchasing a $400,000 property with a 10 percent down payment would have monthly payments of $2,436.
But if the same person had purchased a property in April 2021 β when interest rates were 2.98 percent β ββthey would pay just $1,513 per month.
Economists predicted this trend would create a “lock-in” effect, as buyers who took out 30-year loans when interest rates were at record lows are now reluctant to give up their cheap deals.
But a housing shortage has kept prices high despite declining demand.
In addition, buyers are buoyed by expectations that the Fed will cut rates this year.