Model of a house with wooden letter blocks spelling out "for sale."

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Current prospective homebuyers have more choice than ever in where they put offers in, as unsold listings pile up across the country.

According to a report from Realtor.com, Greater Boston has seen a 35 percent increase in active listings in May. The report did not cover other Massachusetts markets.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors latest data shows that single-family inventory increased by 8.5 percent since last April in the entire commonwealth. And a separate analysis by economists at Redfin found that Greater Boston had 6.9 percent fewer sellers than buyers as of the end of April.

Elsewhere in New England, Greater Hartford, Connecticut has seen inventory increases of 15.5 percent and the Providence, Rhode Island metro has seen a 34 percent jump.

Nationwide, inventory surpassed 1 million units, a figure it hasn’t hit since 2019.

“The number of homes for sale is growing, and even hit a key milestone in May, with more than a million active listings.  But not every housing market is equally well-supplied,” said Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “Recent construction trends explain a lot of the variation in recovery that we see across markets.  Many markets that built aggressively during and after the pandemic are now seeing more listings, longer time on market, and even some modest price softening. In contrast, markets that didn’t build as many homes are still facing an acute shortage, which continues to prop up prices and limit buyer options.”

While inventory has increased, single-family home sales have remained relatively flat. The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported a 0.2 percent drop in Massachusetts in April.

Additionally, while Boston is seeing inventory gains, housing inventory is still far below normal. The Massachusetts capital is still 28.5 percent below inventory levels seen in 2020. Hartford inventory levels are much worse, 77 percent below pre-pandemic inventory levels.

U.S. Home Inventory Passes 1M While New England Sees Gains

by Sam Lattof time to read: 1 min
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