Everyone
knows
that
potential

homebuyers
are
waiting
for
better
affordability.
But
if
demand
for
homes
at
current
prices
is
down
then
why
haven’t
home
prices
fallen
to
meet
the
lower
demand?

The
short
answer
is
that
while
homebuyer
demand
is
indeed
low,
new
supply
remains
very
low,
too.
For

home
prices
to
adjust
significantly,
we
need
an
imbalance
of
supply
versus
demand,
and
this
market
is
surprisingly
balanced.

To
get
the
weekly
picture
about
the
housing
market,
watch
the
video
above.

Don’t
have
time?
Here
are
some
quick
takeaways
from
our
latest
data
dive
at

Altos
Research.

Inventory
is
up
as
homes
sit
for
longer

As
of
Oct.
23,
there
were
554,000

single-family
homes
on
the
market.
That’s
up
1.5%
from
last
week.
Inventory
is
growing
faster
than
last
year
at
this
time.

There
were
only
57,000
new
listings
of
single-family
homes
unsold
again
this
week.
There
are
fewer
sellers
now
than
any
recent
year.

Housing
supply
shows
no
signs
of
easing

There
were
325,000
single-family
homes
in
the
contract-pending
stage,
or
6%
fewer

home
sales
than
last
year.
Meanwhile,
we
saw
55,000
new
contracts
for
single-family
homes
this
week.
That’s
1,000
more
sales
than
the
same
week
last
year.

Homebuyer
demand
is
historically
weak,
but
we
don’t
measure
any
precipitous
further
drop
in
demand
even
with

mortgage
rates
now
over
8%.
What’s
more,
38.5%
of
the
homes
on
the
market
have
taken
a
price
reduction,
and
this
will
keep
increasing.

Price
cuts
show
balanced
market
is
tilting
slowly
to
supply

The
median
price
of
single-family
homes
in
the
United
States
is
now
at
$435,000.
Even
though
the
demand
indicators
are
weak,
home
prices
have
stayed
reasonably
stable,
especially
when
compared
to
last
year.

In
fact,
we’re
seeing
home-price
gains
of
1%
to
2%
over
last
year.
We’ll
see
the
median
price
of
single-family
homes
going
into
contract
each
week
ticking
lower,
but
this
is
mostly
seasonal
as
we
head
into
the
holiday
season.