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U.S. Home Buyers, Sellers Slowing Returning to the Market

Residential News » San Clemente Edition | By Michael Gerrity | June 1, 2020 8:35 AM ET

Zillow is now reporting the last week of May 2020 brought more evidence of buyers and sellers returning to the market as newly pending sales and new listings are up from the previous week.

Inventory continues to be incredibly tight -- one reason list prices are growing faster than they were in April. Partly on the strength of that rebound, Zillow's forecast now shows an expected 1.8% drop in home prices through October, up from the 2.7% drop expected just weeks ago.

Buyer demand continues to show strength

Newly pending sales are up 40.8% from a month ago and 4.2% week over week.

After a dip during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., the week over week change has been positive since the seven days ending April 15.

Inventory is tight, especially with sales activity increasing, but new listings have turned the corner as more sellers are entering the market

Total for-sale listings are down 23.3% year over year in what continues to be an extremely tight market.

New for-sale listings remain down 17.8% year over year, but more recent numbers show more sellers are putting their homes up for sale. They're up 37.8% from last month and 7.2% from a week ago.

List price growth is accelerating

The median list price of homes on the market is $328,927, 2.8% higher than they were a year ago and up 3.5% month over month.

Limited inventory with improving demand is likely keeping pressure on prices.

Zillow economists revise housing market forecast after better-than-expected sales figures in early May

The most recent forecast from Zillow's economic research team shows an expected 1.8% drop in prices from April to October 2020, with a slow recovery through 2021.

Zillow economists expect sales volume reached its bottom in early April, about 44% below February levels, and expect sales volume to rebound strongly in May to about 24% below their February level. Sales are forecasted to recover almost fully by the end of the year.