More Homes, Better Prices: A Buyers Summer

If youve thought about buying a home in the past few years, you may have run into two frustrations: asking prices that kept climbing and too few homes to choose from.

In many places, both sticking points are letting up this summer, with lower asking prices and more homes for sale. Lets look at the trends, and what they mean for your search.

Sellers Are Pricing To Attract Buyers

According to Realtor.com, the national median asking price was $430,000 in June, nearly $11,000 under what it was the year before (see graph below):

Thats the eighth month in a row that the typical asking price has dipped below where they were the previous year, according to the same Realtor.com report.

And while falling prices can sound worrying, this isnt a sign of an impending crash. Were talking about asking prices, not sold prices. This is a sign that todays sellers are meeting the market where it is and pricing to draw buyers. And thats actually something normal wed expect from the market. As Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com, puts it:

Sellers are reading market conditions and are pricing accordingly from the start rather than listing high and cutting later, and buyers are taking note and making bids. This is a welcome sign that we are in a functioning market.

Asking prices were never going to climb forever now they're just settling closer to what buyers can actually pay. That signals a healthier market, and sellers re-adjusting their expectations.

More Homes Are Available Now

If youve spent the past few years watching homes disappear before you could even schedule a tour, this is for you.

Supply is starting to catch up. According to Realtor.com, the number of homes listed for sale in June was the highest June number weve seen in three years (see graph below):

This means more options for you and less competition for each one.

Now, supply is not back to normal everywhere. As you can see, were still down from where we were back in 2017-2019. But in many places, its better than its been in a while. Heres how that helps you.

You dont have to rush an offer just to stay in the running, and you have better odds of finding and landing the right home, not just the one thats available. Plus, youll have more room to negotiate, so youre searching from a stronger position than buyers had even a year ago.

Why This Is Encouraging if Youre Buying Your First Home

For first-time buyers looking for lower-priced homes, these trends line up especially well. Mischa Fisher, Chief Economist at Zillow, explains:

The lowest price tiers are exhibiting some softness in terms of price, they also had the most listing-activity growth, the first time since 2022 thats been the case.

So, if youre searching for your first place or your next house, there's a little more to choose from and a little more give on price.

Bottom Line

If a tight budget or a thin selection has kept you from buying a home, now might be the time to restart your search.

Connect with a local real estate agent to see what's available where you're looking.