Buyers are trolling the nation’s neighborhoods looking for homes at the fastest pace in nearly two years, making an already critical shortage of inventory even worse.
Sales of existing homes rose a steeper-than-expected 3.5% in December compared with January, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Demand is surging because mortgage rates are about a full percentage point lower than they were a year ago, and the largest generation, millennials, are aging into their homebuying years.
That demand has pushed the supply of homes for sale down 8.5% annually to the lowest level since the Realtors began tracking inventory in 1982.
At the current sales pace, the total supply would sell out in just three months. A six months’ supply is considered a balanced market.
