The RE/MAX National Housing Report for August signals that 2021’s busiest home buying and selling months are behind us. But, despite seasonal drops, the housing market is still smoking hot with record-breaking home sales in August.
August home sales dropped 3.5% from July's total, and the median sale price slipped 1.2% to $335,000. The month's low number of market days (24) and meager supply of inventory (1.3) reversed two months of inventory gains as strong demand persisted amid tight inventory conditions.
Year-over-year the median sale price is up 13.2% in August, while the drop in monthly sale price compares to levels seen throughout 2015-2019. The 6.2% month-over-month drop in inventory was nearly double that of 2015-2019 average of 3.3%. Compared to last year, inventory is down 26.7%. Overall, August home sales amounted to one of the largest totals of any month in the 13-year history of the report at 0.6%.
The average amount of days homes spent on the market before being sold in August was 24, up one day from July’s average, though, down 18 days from August 2020. Metro areas that had the lowest days on the market were Cincinnati, OH and Nashville, TN at 10, and Omaha, NE at 13.
The August supply of inventory decreased to 1.3 compared to 1.5 in July 2021, and decreased compared to 1.9 in August 2020. Markets that had the lowest month's supply of inventory were Albuquerque, NM, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, and Charlotte, NC all at 0.6.
"The slight seasonal decline in home sales from July to August was countered by this being the second-highest August sales total in the 13-year history of our report. So, although we appear to be past the blistering summer peak, the market is still very active," says Nick Bailey, president of RE/MAX, LLC. "In fact, the drop in home prices might signal to potential sellers that it's time to get off the fence in case they fall further, which in turn could draw more buyers back into the mix. In any case, it seems likely that the combination of super-quick sales and a severe lack of inventory will be with us for the foreseeable future."
