For Sale Inventory Surpasses 1 Million Homes in U.S.

 Nationally, active listings surpassed the 1 million mark for the first time since winter 2019, while newly listed homes rose 7.2% year-over-year.

AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. housing market is staging a comeback, but the rebound is sharply divided, according to the May Monthly Housing Trends Report from Realtor.com. The number of homes for sale in the U.S. topped 1 million for the first time since winter 2019, but only metros in the South or West have fully returned to pre-pandemic inventory levels as the Northeast and Midwest remain stuck in a supply squeeze.

"The number of homes for sale is growing, and even hit a key milestone in May, with more than a million active listings. But not every housing market is equally well-supplied," said Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. "Recent construction trends explain a lot of the variation in recovery that we see across markets. Many markets that built aggressively during and after the pandemic are now seeing more listings, longer time on market, and even some modest price softening. In contrast, markets that didn't build as many homes are still facing an acute shortage, which continues to prop up prices and limit buyer options."

Inventory is recovering faster in the South and West

All 50 of the largest U.S. metros posted annual inventory gains in May 2025. But, just 22 have fully rebounded to their 2017–2019 inventory norms, and every single one is in the South or West. When it comes to active inventory, cities like Denver (+100.0% vs. pre-pandemic), Austin, Texas (+69.0%) and Seattle, Washington (+60.9%) lead the way, thanks in large part to a post-2020 construction boom. On the flip side, metros like Hartford, Conn. (-77.7%), Chicago (-59.3%) and Virginia Beach, Va. (-56.7%) have recovered the least.

"More homes on the market means buyers finally have options and leverage they haven't had in years," said Gary Ashton, founder of The Ashton Real Estate Group of RE/MAX Advantage in Nashville. "But the strategy for buyers and their agents this spring largely depends on where you live. In Southern locales, like Nashville, the average sales price has increased by 3% as homes remain on the market for longer and local supply increases. We can expect to see sellers get creative with offering concessions to buyers and start to consider more price reductions."

More homes on the market, but affordability is keeping them out of reach

Nationally, active listings surpassed the 1 million mark for the first time since winter 2019, while newly listed homes rose 7.2% year-over-year. But these increases haven't translated into a hot spring buying season. Homes took a median 51 days to sell, six days longer than last year and price cuts rose for the fifth straight month.

In May 2025, 19.1% of listings featured reduced prices, the highest share for any May since at least 2016. Metros with the steepest price reductions were mostly in the West and South, including Phoenix, Ariz. (31.3%), Tampa, Fla. (29.9%), and Denver, Colo. (29.4%).

Why new construction is the great divider

The Realtor.com analysis found a clear link between pandemic-era building activity and today's inventory conditions. Metros that built more housing like Austin, Nashville and Denver have generally returned to pre-2020 inventory levels. Those with less new construction like New York, Boston and Buffalo, N.Y., have not.

This uneven recovery mirrors findings from a recent Realtor.com Housing Supply Gap report, which identified a nationwide shortfall of nearly 4 million homes, and without meaningful changes to zoning, permitting, and construction incentives, supply-constrained regions, especially in the Northeast and Midwest, risk falling even further behind.

Methodology

Realtor.com housing data as of May 2025. Listings include the active inventory of existing single-family homes and condos/townhomes/row homes/co-ops for the given level of geography on Realtor.com; new construction is excluded unless listed via an MLS that provides listing data to Realtor.com. Realtor.com data history goes back to July 2016. The 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas as defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB-202301) and Claritas 2025 estimates of household counts.

Beginning with the April 2025 report, Realtor.com has transitioned to a revised national pending home sales data series that applies enhanced cleaning methods to improve consistency and accuracy over time. While the insights and commentary in this report reflect the new series, the downloadable data remains based on our legacy automated pipeline. As a result, there may be slight differences between the report figures and those in the national download file as the transition continues.

With the release of its January 2025 housing trends report, Realtor.com has restated data points for some previous months. As a result of these changes, some of the data released since January 2025 will not be directly comparable with previous data releases (files downloaded before January 2025) and Realtor.com® economics research reports.

Source: Realtor.com

© 2025 Florida Realtors®

U.S. House Prices Rise 4.0 Percent over the Prior Year

 U.S. House Prices Rise 4.0 Percent over the Prior Year; Up 0.7 Percent from the Fourth Quarter of 2024.

for immediate release

05/27/2025

Washington, D.C. – U.S. house prices rose 4.0 percent between the first quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, according to the U.S. Federal Housing (FHFA) House Price Index (FHFA HPI®). House prices for the first quarter of 2025 were up 0.7 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was down 0.1 percent from February.

Significant Findings

• Nationally, the U.S. housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012.
• House prices rose in 49 states and District of Columbia between the first quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. The five states with the highest annual appreciation were 1) Rhode Island, 11.4 percent; 2) West Virginia, 9.3 percent; 3) Connecticut, 9.0 percent; 4) Ohio, 7.6 percent; and 5) Wyoming, 7.4 percent. House prices declined in Hawaii by 2.2 percent.
• House prices rose in 89 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas over the previous four quarters. The annual price increase was the greatest in Newark, NJ at 11.6 percent. The metropolitan area that experienced the most significant price decline was Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL at 9.0 percent.
• All nine census divisions had positive house price changes year-over-year. The Middle Atlantic division recorded the strongest appreciation, posting a 6.8 percent increase from the first quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025. The Pacific division recorded the smallest four-quarter appreciation, at 1.8 percent.
• Trends in the Top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas are available in our interactive dashboard: https://www.fhfa.gov/data/dashboard/fhfa-hpi-top-100-metro-arearankings. The first tab displays rankings, and the second tab offers charts.

The FHFA HPI® is a comprehensive collection of publicly available house price indexes that measure changes in single-family home values based on data that extend back to the mid-1970s from all 50 states and over 400 American cities. It incorporates tens of millions of home sales and offers insights about house price changes at the national, census division, state, metro area, county, ZIP code, and census tract levels. FHFA uses a fully transparent methodology based upon a weighted, repeat-sales statistical technique to analyze house price transaction data.

FHFA releases HPI data and reports quarterly and monthly. The flagship FHFA HPI® uses seasonally adjusted, purchase-only data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Additional indexes use other data including refinances, mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, and real property records. All the indexes (including their historic values) and information about future HPI release dates are available on FHFA’s website: https://www.fhfa.gov/HPI.

Tables and graphs showing home price statistics for metropolitan areas, states, census divisions, and the United States are included on the following pages.

Notes

• As announced in the previous quarterly report, FHFA adopted the new metropolitan area definitions starting with this release. The set of studied metropolitan areas adheres to the new delineations released by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in July 2023 (Bulletin No.23-01). These changes will continue to be reflected in future HPI reports. More details can be found from the Technical Note in this report, and the report also provides Additional Highlights that discusses a few examples.
• FHFA will release the next monthly HPI report (including data through April 2025) on June 24, 2025, and the next quarterly report (including data for the second quarter of 2025 and monthly data for June 2025) on August 26, 2025.
• Beginning with the June 2025 HPI release, Excel tables in the .xls format will be published in the .xlsx format. Tables currently released as .txt or .csv will continue be published in those formats.
• FHFA posts release dates for the remainder of 2025 at https://www.fhfa.gov/data/hpi#ReleaseDates.
• Follow @FHFA on X, LinkedIn and Facebook for more HPI news.

 Attachments: FHFA HPI® Quarterly - May 2025

The Federal Housing Finance Agency regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks. These government-sponsored enterprises provide more than $8.5 trillion in funding for the U.S. mortgage markets and financial institutions. Additional information is available at www.FHFA.gov, on X @FHFA

, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Contacts: MediaInq​uiries@FHFA.gov

Pools remain an asset when pricing a home

 May 21, 2025

Today, buyers are likely to be more discerning and less willing to pay as much of a premium for a home with a pool than during the pandemic.

AUSTIN, Texas — As Memorial Day kicks off the summer season, a new analysis of Realtor.com listing data finds that while the pandemic-driven surge in swimming pool premiums has subsided, pools still command a significant price advantage, and the share of listings featuring pools reached an all-time high this April.

As of April 2025, the price premium for a home with a pool stands at 54%, and the share of listings with pools reached an all-time high of 24.4%, with 333,000 homes featuring a pool, the highest number since March 2019. While this premium is down from the peak in January 2022, when the typical home with a pool boasted a 61% price premium, it is still a significant advantage.

"During the pandemic, people were looking for ways to get more enjoyment out of their homes, and this surge in demand for features like pools, translated into a substantial 'pool premium,' where homes featuring a pool commanded significantly higher asking prices compared to their pool-less counterparts," said Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst, Realtor.com. "This trend peaked in January 2022, and although price premiums have normalized, the presence of a pool continues to drive a premium and be a popular item to include in listings as a home or community feature."

Do pools drive higher listing prices?

Both homes with and without pools have seen substantial price increases since 2019. In 2019, the typical listing price for a home with a pool was $415,000. So far in 2025, the typical home with a pool was listed for $599,000, shy of the June 2024 peak of $599,900, but paving the way for near-record-high prices for homes with a pool later this summer when prices typically hit their annual peak. This upward trajectory underscores the overall appreciation of home values. Homes without a pool saw prices climb from $274,000 in 2019 to $389,000 in April 2025 (+42.0%), just lagging the appreciation of homes with a pool (+44.3%).

Some of this trend may be attributed to the fact that homes with pools are generally larger than those without. Currently, the typical for-sale home with a pool is about 32.4%, or 600 square feet, larger than one without. In April 2025, the median price- per-square- foot of a home with a pool was $247, compared to $204 for a home without a pool. In April 2019, pool price- per-square- foot for a home with a pool was $162 and without a pool was $135.

While prices have climbed across the board, the price gap between homes with and without pools, in percentage terms, has narrowed from its pandemic highs. According to Jones, "This doesn't necessarily mean pools are less valuable, but rather that the market's premium specifically for this amenity has softened."

The shift in market dynamics from a hyper-competitive seller's market in 2022 to a more buyer-friendly environment in 2025 is a crucial factor influencing the pool premium. In 2022, buyers were often willing to pay a premium for desirable amenities in a market characterized by limited inventory and intense competition. Today, with more options available, buyers are likely to be more discerning and less willing to pay as much of a premium for a home with a pool. Consequently, sellers are adjusting their pricing expectations for homes with this feature.

Where are pools most common?

Pools tend to be most popular in hot climates like the South and the West, where inventory levels have picked up more significantly than in their cooler counterparts, which could be driving the share of listings with a pool higher, as well.

This year, Miami, Phoenix, Orlando, Fla., Austin, Texas and Tampa, Fla., boast the highest share of homes listed with a swimming pool. Las Vegas, Houston, Nashville, Tenn., Indianapolis and Miami have seen the biggest increases in pool listings since 2019. Many of the metros that have seen the biggest increases in pool listings also have seen substantial new construction activity over the past six years, suggesting strong correlation between new development and the increasing availability of homes with pools, either private or within community amenity packages.

2025 and beyond – pools remain an asset; strategic pricing is key

While the extraordinary price premiums associated with swimming pools during the pandemic have softened, pools continue to be a valuable asset in the housing market. Homes with pools still command a significant price advantage over those without, both in absolute terms and on a price-per-square-foot basis.

"Sellers should be mindful of the evolving market dynamics and avoid overpricing their properties based solely on the presence of a pool," said Jones. "The market is more sensitive to value today, and buyers have more choices. A strategic pricing approach that considers the current, more moderate pool premium, the size and overall condition of the home, and the specific characteristics of the local market is essential for a successful sale."

Source: Realtor.com

© 2025 Florida Realtors®

New Rules Condotel Buyers Need to Know

 By Richard Swank

New legislation requires condotel buyers to receive disclosures about maintenance responsibilities and fees for non-condo areas, ensuring clarity before purchase.

ORLANDO, Fla. — On October 1, 2024, Florida Realtors® released revisions to its existing condominium riders to add a section with disclosure language related to “Condominiums Created within a Portion of a Building or Within a Multiple Parcel Building.” This disclosure language was mandated by the Legislature’s creation of section 718.407, Florida Statutes, pertaining to such condominiums. But that title doesn’t shed much light on exactly what kind of condominium the Legislature was talking about. This type of condominium is usually referred to as a “Condotel.”

Most people are vaguely familiar with the usual type of condominium. Generally speaking, the condominium form of governance is created when a developer builds a building (or sometimes a townhouse community) and then sells the individual dwelling units within the building to buyers. These buyers actually own the space inside the unit. In addition to the units themselves, the condominium consists of “common areas,” which are essentially any space outside the units. In a typical condominium, this space can encompass many things, including hallways, elevators, parking garages, pools and pickle ball courts. Once the developer has turned over control to the association, the owners within the condominium own these common areas collectively. The association board then votes on assessments to charge each owner to maintain the whole condominium, including these common areas.

Condotels are a little different. In the condotel form of governance, the owner of the building still sells individual units to buyers, who own the space inside. However, the building owner never turns the building over to an association of unit owners. The building owner – not the unit owners – retains control and ownership of the space outside the units.

Recent legal disputes muddied the waters with respect to who is responsible for the maintenance of this exterior space and whether specific parts of the space constitute common areas or shared amenities. Ultimately, the precise definition of these spaces is not crucial for purposes of this article. The important takeaway is that unit owners recognize they may have little control over how much they are charged to maintain these spaces outside their units.

Concern over this issue prompted the Legislature to pass section 718.407, Florida Statutes. Section 718.407 recognizes the condotel form of ownership and governance, calling it a “condominium created within a portion of a building or within a multiple parcel building.” The statute mandates that when creating such a condominium, the declaration must state which parts of the building are subject to a condominium form of governance and which are not. The declaration must then state which party is responsible for operating and maintaining such shared facilities and the way maintenance expenses will be apportioned.

Perhaps the most significant part of section 718.407 is the Legislature’s mandate that any buyer considering purchasing a unit in a condotel be provided a disclosure acknowledging what they are buying into. This is the reason the Florida Realtors disclosures were amended. The buyer must acknowledge multiple factors, including the fact that there are portions of the building outside their unit not included within the condominium form of governance. Critically, the disclosure puts the buyer on notice that even though the condo owners will not have control over the maintenance budget for these spaces, they will still be responsible for paying these fees.

Most importantly, though the prospective buyer must acknowledge their responsibility for fees, the disclosure does not give the buyer the right to terminate the contract once they become aware of this responsibility. It is therefore crucial that a buyer interested in a condotel unit be aware of this fact before making an offer on such a property. Real estate agents can assist with education about condotels by informing buyers of these issues, and directing their attention to section 718.407, Florida Statutes, at the outset of the representation. If the buyer still has questions, they should consult an attorney familiar with the ins and outs of condotels.

Richard Swank is an Associate General Counsel for Florida Realtors.

Note: Information deemed accurate on date of publication.

© 2025 Florida Realtors®

U.S. buyers median monthly mortgage payment at an all-time high

 May 1, 2025 by Dana Anderson

Mortgage-purchase applications are declining and pending home sales are sluggish.

https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-record-high-housing-costs-economic-uncertainty/

Why Existing-Home Sales Are Falling Short

 By Melissa Dittmann Tracey

Existing-home sales fell in March due to tight inventory, while new-home sales rose as builders met strong buyer demand. Buyers still face competition.

CHICAGO — Existing-home sales have lagged over the past two years, while new-home sales have surged — highlighting a key dynamic: Buyer demand remains strong when inventory is available.

The existing-home market continues to face a short supply of homes for sale, despite the latest progress of a 20% annual uptick in inventory. With just a 4 months’ supply of inventory, existing-home sales fell nearly 6% in March compared to February. Sales were down 2.4% from a year ago, the National Association of Realtors® reported Thursday.

“That may begin to shift,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “As time passes, life events — such as job changes, family transitions or financial needs — could prompt more homeowners to sell, even if it means giving up their low locked-in mortgage rates.”

As it stands now, about 44 million homeowners have a mortgage rate below 6%, according to an NAR analysis. That’s lower than the current 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which has been averaging in the mid- to high 6% range. Buyers with financial wherewithal are bypassing mortgages altogether: All-cash buyers continue to make up a sizable share of the market, comprising 26% of existing-home sales transactions in March, according to NAR’s data.

Proof buyers are still out there

Even with last month’s slide in existing-home sales, buyers could still face some competition. Twenty-one percent of homes sold above list price in March, and 57% of real estate pros report that properties typically sold in just over a month, according to the March Realtors® Confidence Index Survey, reflecting results from a survey of more than 1,500 real estate pros about their latest transactions. Homes listed received an average of 2.4 offers. What’s more, 22% of buyers waived the inspection contingency and 19% waived their appraisal contingency in competing in a home sale last month.

Home prices also are still climbing: The median existing-home sales price in March reached an all-time high of $403,700, NAR reports.

Contrasting housing prices with recent stock market declines, Yun says, “Household wealth in residential real estate continues to reach new heights. With mortgage delinquencies at near-historical lows, the housing market is on solid footing.”

Signaling further potential buyer interest, mortgage applications for home purchases are up 4.3% year-to-date. “Aside from inventory growth, lower mortgage rates will be needed to get homeowners to move,” Yun says. “A small deceleration in home price gains, which was slightly below wage-growth increases in March, would be a welcome improvement for affordability.”

Builders capitalize on demand but face headwinds

Meanwhile, homebuilders have plenty of inventory — and in some cases, lower mortgage rates — to meet some of that pent-up buyer demand. Sales of newly built homes climbed 7% in March compared to the previous month and are up 6% from a year ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau reported on Wednesday.

“A wide inventory availability — at eight months’ supply — is helping newly constructed home sales to move forward,” Yun says. “The homebuilders’ focus on smaller-sized homes is also attracting buyers.” New home sales are up 33% year-to-date for homes priced below $300,000 and up by 28% year-to-date for new homes priced between $300,000 and $400,000, NAHB reports.

In March, the median price of newly constructed homes was $403,600, well-below the $435,000 price from three years ago when builders were more focused on larger-sized homes, Yun adds.

Builder incentives also could be drawing buyers in. About 30% of builders say they cut their home prices in April, with the average price reduction at 5%, according to the NAHB and Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. About 61% of builders say they also used sales incentives this month, like with mortgage rate buy downs or upgrades.

“The new home sales data shows that demand continues to be present in the market, provided affordability conditions permit a purchase,” says Buddy Hughes, NAHB’s chairman. “An increase in economic certainty would be a big boost to future sales conditions.”

Uncertainty looms, however, particularly around the potential impact new tariff policies could have on the new-home industry. Sixty percent of builders reported that suppliers have already increased or have announced tariff-related price increases for materials — an uptick of 6.3%, on average. Builders estimate that recent tariff actions could increase the cost of a newly built home by about $10,900 per home.

“Builders have expressed growing uncertainty over market conditions as tariffs have increased price volatility for building materials — at a time when the industry continues to grapple with labor shortages and a lack of buildable lots,” Hughes said.

© 2025 National Association of Realtors® (NAR)

U.S. Market: Existing-Home Sales Slip 5.9% in March

 WASHINGTON — Existing-home sales descended in March, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Sales slid in all four major U.S. regions. Year-over-year, sales dropped in the Midwest and South, increased in the West and were unchanged in the Northeast.

Total existing-home sales – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 5.9% from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.02 million in March. Year-over-year, sales drew back 2.4% (down from 4.12 million in March 2024).

"Home buying and selling remained sluggish in March due to the affordability challenges associated with high mortgage rates," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Residential housing mobility, currently at historical lows, signals the troublesome possibility of less economic mobility for society."

Total housing inventory registered at the end of March was 1.33 million units, up 8.1% from February and 19.8% from one year ago (1.11 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 4.0-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 3.5 months in February and 3.2 months in March 2024.

The median existing home price for all housing types in March was $403,700, up 2.7% from one year ago ($392,900). All four U.S. regions registered price increases.

"In a stark contrast to the stock and bond markets, household wealth in residential real estate continues to reach new heights," Yun said. "With mortgage delinquencies at near-historical lows, the housing market is on solid footing. A small deceleration in home price gains, which was slightly below wage-growth increases in March, would be a welcome improvement for affordability. With real estate asset valuation at $52 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Flow of Funds, each percentage point gain in home prices adds more than $500 billion to the household balance sheet."

Realtors® Confidence Index

According to the monthly Realtors® Confidence Index, properties typically remained on the market for 36 days in March, down from 42 days in February but up from 33 days in March 2024.

First-time buyers were responsible for 32% of sales in March, up from 31% in February 2025 and identical to March 2024. NAR's 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers – released November 20244 – found that the annual share of first-time buyers was 24%, the lowest ever recorded.

Cash sales accounted for 26% of transactions in March, down from 32% in February and 28% in March 2024.

Individual investors or second-home buyers, who make up many cash sales, purchased 15% of homes in March, down from 16% in February and unchanged from March 2024.

Distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales – represented 3% of sales in March, unchanged from February and up from 2% the prior year.

Mortgage rates

According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.83% as of April 17. That's up from 6.62% one week before but down from 7.1% one year ago.

Single-family and condo/co-op sales

Single-family home sales retreated 6.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.64 million in March, down 2.2% from the previous year. The median existing single-family home price was $408,000 in March, up 2.9% from March 2024.

Existing condominium and co-op sales were unchanged in March at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 380,000 units, down 5.0% from one year ago. The median existing condo price was $363,000 in March, up 1.5% from the prior year ($357,700).

Regional breakdown

In March, existing-home sales in the Northeast declined 2.0% from February to an annual rate of 490,000, identical to March 2024. The median price in the Northeast was $468,000, up 7.7% from one year earlier.

In the Midwest, existing-home sales waned 5.0% in March to an annual rate of 950,000, down 3.1% from the previous year. The median price in the Midwest was $302,100, up 3.5% from March 2024.

Existing home sales in the South contracted 5.7% from February to an annual rate of 1.81 million in March, down 4.2% from one year before. The median price in the South was $360,400, up 0.6% from last year.

In the West, existing-home sales plunged 9.4% in March to an annual rate of 770,000, up 1.3% from a year ago. The median price in the West was $621,200, up 2.6% from March 2024.

© 2024 National Association of Realtors® (NAR)