The U.S. median home listing price was down by 0.9% year-over-year, according to data from Realtor.com. This marked the first yearly decline since 2017, when Realtor.com began to track this data.
In June, the U.S. median list price was $445,000, up from $441,000 in May but down slightly from June 2022’s record high of $449,000. Among the 50 largest metros, 15 markets saw their median list price decline from one year ago, most notably the Texas metros Austin (-6.8%), Houston (-5.1%), and Raleigh, North Carolina (-4.2%).
While this occurred, the national active inventory grew 7.1% year-over-year in June, although it also slowed for the fourth consecutive month and was less than half of May’s 21.5% rate; it was also 50.6% below the pre-pandemic 2017–2019 levels.
“While home asking prices grew seasonally, price gains have been weakening since last summer as rising mortgage rates have added to ongoing affordability challenges and further cooled buyer demand, so the first year-over-year decline in median list prices this month wasn’t unexpected,” said Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “While this could feel like a welcome relief for buyers, our revised 2023 outlook expects only a modest drop in home prices of 0.6% for the year. This may not be enough to noticeably bring down costs until the end of the year as inflation and rates start to fall too.”
Hale added that “fewer potential sellers opting to list their home because of the mortgage rate lock-in effect continues to be a drag on the market. Fortunately, for those willing to make a move, falling prices won’t erase the substantial price gains seen the past few years, and most will likely have enough equity to come out ahead.”
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