Home buyer demand continues to grow, but their choices became even more slim last week. Newly pending sales rose from the previous week, but new listings and total listings fell. 

Newly pending sales continue slow climb

• Newly pending sales grew 2.8% week over week, and were 17.7% higher than a month earlier. 
• Among the 35 largest U.S. metros, newly pending sales have grown the most since last month in Philadelphia (up 62.7% month over month), New York (up 58.1%) and Miami (up 37.9%). 

Inventory took a small step back last week

• Total for-sale inventory fell by 0.4% from the previous week, and is now 17.1% below last year’s level. 
• 3.8% fewer new listings came onto the market than the week prior. New listings are up 13.9% month over month, but down 16.6% annually. 

List prices continue to rise, but home values may be on the verge of a modest fall

• The median list price is $332,680, up 2.5% year over year and 0.8% from the previous week. 
• Despite the continued growth of list prices, Zillow’s May Real Estate Market Report may have revealed the first indication that home values will fall in the second half of the year. The month-over-month change in home values slowed noticeably from April to May. 

Zillow’s pending sales and home price forecast remains steady

• 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 pending sales volume reached its bottom in early April, about 50% below February levels. Pending sales are forecasted to recover almost fully by the end of the year.

Methodology

The Zillow Weekly Market Reports are compiled by Zillow Economic Research and data is aggregated from public sources and listing data on Zillow.com. Newly pending sales and new for-sale listings data reflect daily counts using a smoothed, seven-day trailing average. Total for-sale listings, days to pending and median list price data reflect weekly counts using a smoothed, four-week trailing average.

Click here to read past editions of Zillow’s Weekly Market Report.