June 13, 2025
Overview:
Reports and articles referenced:
Housing data for download:
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
- I’m Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com®. As summer temps really start to sizzle, I’m going to discuss the cooling trend in inflation and what that could mean for next week’s Fed meeting. I’ll also review the latest mortgage rates, improving consumer attitudes toward housing, and Realtor.com weekly housing data. Building on last week’s discussion of key May Housing Trends, I’ll spotlight the Hottest Housing Markets for the month. Finally, I’ll discuss how investors were involved in the housing market in 2024 and wrap with a fun look at the architectural styles of homes in 2025.
- Let’s start with inflation. Despite expectations for more of it in the wake of tariffs, both consumer and producer price indexes showed milder price gains in May on a month to month basis, which nudged headline annual inflation higher and kept the core reading unchanged. Inflation may yet move higher, but for now, it is still trending back toward the Fed’s 2% target. I don’t expect a Fed rate cut next week, however, because the labor market is stable and inflation is not yet fully across the finish line.
- In the mortgage market, rates on a 30-year fixed rate loan dropped for the second week in a row. Again, the dip was small, so rates remain relatively high. In this environment, consumers should take advantage of every opportunity to set themselves up for a lower rate. One impactful way to do this is to shop around among lenders when you’re ready to get a mortgage.
- Could there be more mortgages in the next few months? Consumer attitudes about home buying and selling improved in May to the best level of the year so far as confidence shaken by tariffs and early-year economic turbulence seems to be returning.
- Looking at Realtor.com weekly housing data we see that home prices ticked up a bit as active listing growth waned. While new listing growth rose compared to last week, it trailed behind what we’ve seen year to date and could signal reluctance from sellers to get into a market that is definitely more balanced than seller-friendly.
- The Realtor.com May Housing Trends report showed that, regionally, markets in the South and West have seen a stronger inventory recovery while the Northeast and Midwest lag much further behind.
- Our Hottest Housing Markets report reflects similar forces with the 6 hottest housing markets located in New England and the rest of the top 20 coming from the Midwest and other parts of the Northeast.
- Another recent report revealed that while investors continue to be net buyers of real estate nationwide, they hit a record high participation in the market as sellers, closing the buyer-seller gap to its smallest since 2020. Put simply, while investors are still competing with buyers in many markets, they’re also selling more real estate, giving buyers options.
- Importantly, in a handful of states, investors are actually selling more than they’re buying, creating opportunities for owner-occupant buyers.
- Finally, a home’s architectural style reflects its aesthetics and may also indicate a home’s age, price, popularity, and place. Our recent report revealed that colonial and traditional style homes are the most common, comprising half of for-sale homes in May. And, these and other affordable home styles homes saw some of the biggest price growth in the last year.
- You can find all the details, including full reports and our housing data for download, at realtor.com/research. You can also follow us on X (formerly twitter) for real time updates. And instagram for graphics.
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