Realtor.com has released its monthly national survey of the state of the real estate market for the month of May.

Inventory has increased by 21.5% from May of last year, continuing to build off of the 48.3% year-over-year increase from April. 42 of the 50 largest metro markets have seen their inventory increase this past year. While impressive, inventory still hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

The Huntsville-Madison County market is one of those metro areas that has seen this inventory increase. According to the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors’ (HAAR) report for the week ending May 20, inventory of single-family units in Madison County increased 43.5%, while townhouse/condo units saw a more modest increase of 20%.

According to the Realtor.com national study, there were an average of 22.7% fewer new listings compared to last year, while the HAAR report shows a similar 20.6% decrease in new listings here in Madison County.

While the Federal Reserve’s high interest rates are combatting inflation, keeping it from becoming a runaway catastrophe, the high rates are also keeping sellers from listing their homes, and that, in turns, means that housing prices remain elevated, with high competition for the relatively few homes on the market.

“Many sellers report being concerned about finding another home, which may cause some of them to put plans to list on pause,” says Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “But this reduces the total number of options for buyers in the market.”

However, this state of affairs is destined to be short-lived, as the continuing high demand for housing drives the construction of the new units that are in the works, with more being completed each month.

Since those building those homes want those units to actually sell, and large swaths of the market are currently being dissuaded or barred from buying due to high interest rates, the sale prices of those units will have to be lower to compensate, which in turn, will force those who have already listed their homes to lower their prices in order to compete.

In short; if you’re looking to buy, hold off for a while longer. If you’re looking to sell, do so while the getting’s still good.

As always, the Huntsville Business Journal will continue to monitor the state of the real estate market, in order to keep its readership informed of changing conditions.