Gap Widens Between What Buyers Want, What?s for Sale

momopi

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https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2019/06/28/gap-widens-between-what-buyers-want-what-s-for-sale

Home buyers are finding fewer homes for sale that are meeting their price expectations. Half of all home buyers say they?re looking for a home priced under $288,000. But that is 9.1% below?or $27,000 less--than the median list price of currently available homes, a new realtor.com? study finds.

?The price difference between what buyers are searching for, closing on, and what?s available on the market demonstrates just how big the gap is for entry-level home buyers,? says Danielle Hale, realtor.com??s chief economist. ?Buying a first home has always been a challenge, but with such a slim number of entry-level homes available, it?s especially difficult now.?

The median sales price of homes purchased in April was $267,000, which is about 15% or $48,000 less than the price of the inventory currently on the market, according to National Association of REALTORS? data.

Realtor.com? researchers estimate that about 94,000 more homes priced between $100,000 to $340,000?or a 15% increase?are needed to satisfy the imbalance between what buyers want and what is available. However, it?s homes priced above $750,000 that have seen the most growth in inventory lately, rather than the lower end of the market, researchers note.

?Entry-level homes continue to be difficult to come by as the inventory composition shifts more and more toward higher-priced homes,? Hale says. ?This is causing smaller and more affordable homes to appreciate rapidly, resulting in a mismatch between what buyers are able to spend and what sellers expect to receive.?

Smaller homes (those between 750 to 1,750 square feet) have appreciated 12.1%, or 3.5 times, faster than mid- to large-sized homes (3,000 to 6,000 square feet), realtor.com??s analysis finds.

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