Housing inventory

Purchases of new single-family homes decreased 5.6% to a 679,000 annualized pace last month, government data showed Monday.

While the share is slightly lower than at the start of 2023, the market is not expected to slip back to lower pre-pandemic levels, CoreLogic said.

Purchases of new single-family homes increased 1.1% to an annualized 640,000 pace after a 633,000 rate in January, government data showed Thursday.

House hunting activity also slowed in December, with home tours declining 69% from the start of the year, a Redfin report found.

Sales of high-end homes fell 38.1% year-over-year, per a Redfin report.

Industry leaders suggested they’ve "never felt so worried at a time when everything feels so good otherwise," said Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly increased to a one-year high as buyers rushed in ahead of a surge in mortgage rates, further depleting tight inventories to a record low.

An increase in the number of completed homes over the last two months and prospects of higher interest rates this year as the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy may have encouraged a pickup in contract signings.

A measure of home prices in 20 U.S. cities jumped 18.3%, down from 18.5% in October, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index showed Tuesday. It marked the fourth straight month that home-price appreciation has cooled off ever so slightly.

While September's single-family starts were unchanged from the prior month, multifamily activity fell 5%, according to government data.