Home supply takes first hit of 2019 as affordability summons buyers

Rising affordability through declining mortgage rates brought more buyers to the table and cut down the national inventory of for-sale homes, according to Redfin.

Housing supply climbed year-over-year every month since September 2018 before falling 0.3% in June. If the current trajectory continues, inventory could be down 4% annually by the fall.

"Lower interest rates are bringing buyers back, but without enough homes for sale to meet demand, we expect to see more bidding wars, which will push prices up this summer," Daryl Fairweather, Redfin chief economist, said in a press release.

Broken down by the 46 largest metro areas, 32 experienced year-over-year inventory drops. The largest declines in for-sale stock came in inexpensive markets, meanwhile the biggest gains were seen in some of the affluent coastal markets.

"We expect small, inland markets where a typical home is still affordable for a middle-class family to heat up the most," Fairweather continued. "Those markets, like Knoxville, Tenn., and Akron, Ohio, are already experiencing double-digit annual price growth, and there is a lot of room for prices to continue to grow. Expensive metros like San Jose, Calif., and Seattle may see moderate price growth this summer, but for the most part those markets have already peaked."

San Jose led all housing markets with a 43.6% year-over-year jump in homes for sale. Seattle at 21.9%, Boston at 21.3% and Denver at 20.9% followed. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Oklahoma City had a 15.3% drop. Virginia Beach, Va., fell 13.7%, while Buffalo, N.Y., and Richmond, Va., dropped 11.8% and 10.3%, respectively.