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15 Journal HOUSING SUPPLY RISES FOR FIRST TIME IN NEARLY THREE YEARS e number of homes for sale nationwide in June rose 2%, the first annual increase since July 2019—according to a new report from Redfin. Supply has built up as the combination of 5.5%-plus mortgage rates, high home prices, and a faltering economy push more buyers to the sidelines, thereby creating a more balanced market. Home sales fell nearly 16% from a year ago, the largest decline since May 2020. e shift has also started impacting sale prices: ey're still growing by double digits, but the 11% year-over-year increase is the smallest in nearly two years. "e country's economic woes have already cooled the housing market, and they're likely to continue dampening demand," Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said. "e Fed has signaled it may increase interest rates further to combat stubbornly high inflation, which could harm consumer confidence, and lower stock prices mean fewer prospective homebuyers can afford a down payment. I advise sellers to commit: If you decide to sell, do it quickly before demand falls further. And price carefully—this is not the time to test the waters. You'll do more harm than good if you overprice and have to do a price reduction or take the home off the market." e market is a now considered a mixed bag for buyers. ey're seeing higher monthly housing payments than earlier this year due to comparatively high mortgage rates but facing less competition for homes, which often allows them to make less risky offers that include protections like inspection and appraisal contingencies. Metro-Level Highlights: Competition » Denver and Indianapolis were the fastest markets, with half of all homes pending sale in just 5 days. Grand Rapids, Michigan; Omaha, Nebraska; and Oklahoma City were the next-fastest markets—with six median days on market. » e most competitive market in June was Rochester, New York, where 80.5% of homes sold above list price, followed by 76.8% in Worcester, Massachusetts, 76.2% in Oakland, California, 75.4% in Buffalo, New York, and 75.0% in Hartford, Connecticut. Prices » North Port, Florida, had the nation's highest price growth, with home prices rising 29.7% since a year earlier to $480,000. Cape Coral, Florida, had the second-highest growth at 27.7%, followed by Tampa, Florida (26.1%), Fort Worth, Texas (24.2%), and Knoxville, Tennessee (24.1%). » Only San Francisco (-0.5%) saw price declines in June. Sales » No metro areas saw home sales increase from a year earlier in June. Greenville, South Carolina, had the smallest decline, with home sales dropping 2.3% year over year, followed by Worcester, Massachusetts, down 4.1%. El Paso, Texas, rounded out the top three with sales down 7.2% from a year ago. » West Palm Beach, Florida, saw the largest decline in sales from a year earlier, falling 34.1%. Next came Anaheim, California, and Miami, where home sales declined by 33.6% and 33.5%, respectively. Inventory » North Port, Florida, had the biggest increase in the number of homes for sale, up 34% year over year, followed by Colorado Springs, Colorado (31.5%), and Austin, Texas (26.9%). » Allentown, Pennsylvania, had the largest decrease in the number of homes for sale, falling 41.1% since last June. Hartford, Connecticut (-29.2%), Greensboro, North Carolina (-28.6%), and Bridgeport, Connecticut (-27.9%), came next. with a foreclosure filing) Other metro areas with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 highest in the first half of 2022 included: » Rockford, Illinois (0.30% of housing units with a foreclosure filing) » Lakeland, Florida (0.27% of housing units with a foreclosure filing) » Akron, Ohio and Fayetteville, North Carolina (both with 0.24% of housing units with a foreclosure filing) » Trenton, New Jersey (0.23% of housing units with a foreclosure filing) A total of 117,383 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in the first half of 2022, a reading that was up 219% from the first half of 2021, and up 19% from the first half of 2020. States reporting the greatest number of foreclosures starts in the first half of 2022 included: » California (12,805 foreclosure starts) » Florida (11,448 foreclosure starts) » Tennessee (10,970 foreclosure starts) » Illinois (8,411 foreclosure starts) » Ohio (6,987 foreclosure starts) "It's important to note that many of the foreclosure starts we're seeing today—in fact, much of the overall foreclosure activity we're seeing right now—is on loans that were either already in foreclosure or were more than 120 days delinquent prior to the pandemic," Sharga said. "Many of these loans were protected by the government's foreclosure moratorium, or they would have already been foreclosed on two years ago. ere's very little delinquency or default activity that's truly new in the numbers we're tracking." In terms of foreclosure timelines, states that reported the longest average foreclosure timelines for foreclosures completed in Q2 2022 were found in: » Nevada (2,683 days) » Hawaii (2,619 days) » New Jersey (1,984 days) » Louisiana (1,901 days) » New York (1,823 days) States reporting the shortest average foreclosure timelines for foreclosures completed in Q2 2022 included: » West Virginia (82 days) » Montana (84 days) » Missouri (117 days) » Minnesota (141 days) » Arkansas (154 days)

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