Home shoppers in August had a wider than usual selection – according to new data from Zillow (NASDAQ: Z, ZG), sellers listed nearly 350,000 homes for sale last month, up 4% from July.
And while August’s new listings were more than 20% below pre-pandemic norms, the uptick helped to halve an annual deficit in new listings, from -26% year-over-year in July to -13% in August.
“Those still shopping for homes late in summer were offered a bit of relief, and not all from expected sources. Competition for houses tends to ease up at this time of year, giving buyers more time to decide and a better chance to negotiate on price,” said Jeff Tucker, Zillow senior economist. “What we didn’t expect — especially considering 7-plus-percent mortgage rates — was more new listings. The inventory crunch is still far from resolved, but this was a small step in the right direction.”
