Home-sellers, on average, accepted offers below their listing prices last month — a further indication of rebalancing in the housing market, according the RE/MAX National Housing Report for August.
Across the report's 51 metro areas, the average Close-to-List Price Ratio in August was 99%, meaning that homes sold for 1% less than the asking price. That's down slightly from 101% in July and 104% in April. This change helped push August sales 5.3% higher than July, while the median sales price declined 2.4% to $410,000 after peaking at $426,000 three months earlier.
Simultaneously, new listings dropped 12.8% from July and inventory declined 1.8% after four months of double-digit growth. However, the number of homes for sale was 20% higher than in August of last year, the report said.
"Patient buyers were rewarded in August, as prices softened from July," said Nick Bailey, RE/MAX president and CEO. "Sales increased as buyers 'bought the dip' — which was not the trend many people were expecting. The activity modestly depleted inventory, although the number of homes for sale remains significantly higher than this time a year ago."
Bailey continued, "The late-summer burst of activity underscores the housing market's resiliency. Despite the uptick in interest rates and concerns about the economy, demand remains strong. We'll see what happens from here, but the August bump in sales was great news for the industry."
RE/MAX Executive Realty real estate agent Gina Mayes Harris, who is based in Charlotte, N.C., said her market is showing strength for both buyers and sellers, "with homes now selling at market value. Buyers are no longer bidding against each other to extremes, and while sellers are not seeing the same level of price appreciation gains as they have in the past year or two, we expect continued low single-digit appreciation in the coming months and year. All signs point to a more balanced market providing plenty of opportunities for buyers and sellers."
Two-thirds of the way through 2022, home sales have declined every month compared to last year. Months supply of inventory was 1.6 months in August, a decline from 1.7 in July but an increase compared to 1.2 in August 2021, the report said.
Days on Market averaged 28, four days higher than July and three days more than August 2021. August's Median Sales Price of $410,000 was 2.4% below July but was up 7% year over year.
Of the 51 metro areas surveyed in August 2022, the number of newly listed homes was down 12.8% compared to July 2022 and down 13.1% compared to August 2021, RE/MAX said. The market with the biggest decrease in year-over-year new listings percentage was Dover, Del. at -59.4%.
Also from these 51 areas, the overall number of home sales was up 5.3% compared to July 2022, and down 20.1% compared to August 2021. The market with the biggest decrease in year-over-year sales percentage was Bozeman, Mont., at -44.1%.
In August 2022, the median of all 51 metro area sales prices was $410,000, down 2.4% compared to July 2022 and up 7.0% from August 2021. Two metro areas saw a year-over-year decrease in median sales price: San Francisco, and Honolulu, Hawaii. Twenty metro areas increased year-over-year by double-digit percentages, led by Fayetteville, Ark.
