Housing Recovery Nears Equilibrium

Good news for homebuyers. On average, the home prices in 38 cities were unchanged in July, compared to June this year and that's a first for the year. If the trend continues, it could provide a cushion against the double whammy of rising home prices and rising interest rates. For sellers? Get moving. There's still the advantage of year over year price increases, but month-to-month, there might not be much more price gain to cash in on. What increases are expected month-to-month could be too small to squeeze any more profit out of the market, according to online real estate brokerage Movoto.com. In June, the average list price per square foot for homes was $181 in the 38 cities Movoto tracks - the same as June. Previously this year, the median list price per square foot increased for six consecutive months, giving buyers the jitters and sellers the jollies. Just how good this news is for buyers remains to be seen. For the past two years the June to July price spread also has been relatively unchanged. More sellers always come to market during the busy summer seasonal period because that's when buyers are more likely to buy a home and get moved in before kids return to school in the fall. Year-over-year price, inventory change Meanwhile, the median list price per square foot increased in 36 of the 38 cites, rising 14.9 percent since last July. Sacramento remains Movoto's price gain winner with a 64.5 percent increase in the prices per square foot, followed by Phoenix at 39.6; Mesa, 32.6; Oakland, 31.2 percent; Long Beach, 30.3 percent; Boston, 24.2 percent; Las Vegas 24.1 percent; Los Angeles, 21.2 percent and Miami, 20 percent, to round out the list of towns with price per square foot gains of 20 percent or more. Inventories dropped on the year in 32 of 38 cities tracked, by an average of 16.2 percent. The supply of homes shrank most in Detroit where the supply fell by 45 percent, followed by Sacramento, 44 percent; Boston, 43.5 percent; Houston, 32.3 percent; Dallas, 29.6 percent; Austin; 26.2 percent; Chicago, 26.2 percent; Nashville 25.2 percent; Washington, D.C., 23.1 percent; Atlanta 22.9 percent; Phoenix, 22 percent and Memphis, 21.7 percent to round out the cities with a decline in inventories of 20 percent or more. But it's the month-to-month inventory of homes for sale that's the stat to watch. Inventories were up more than 4 percent on average from June to July, the third straight month of rising inventories. While seasonal factors impact growing inventories of homes for sale, this year's growth is one to watch. Recent summers haven't seen an upward trend in inventories. "To place this in perspective, during the same time in 2012 and 2011, inventory declined across the cities we track, which is a good sign for perspective buyers going into the second half of this year," Movoto.com reported.

Written by Broderick Perkins

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