In April, U.S. housing market activity as measured by existing home sales plummeted to its lowest point in ten years. This decrease was the slowest rate of decline for that month since 2009. The National Association of Realtors, in releasing home sales data for April, today reported a 0.5% decline in home sales from March. The new seasonally adjusted annual rate is 4 million units. That’s a big drop at what is typically a very busy time of year for the market, and it’s left analysts on the industry’s Rassembling trumpered alarmed.
April 2020 marked a watershed moment for the housing market. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic knocked buyer interest off a cliff, but this year is presenting a whole new set of challenges. As of April, the number of sellers in the market exceeded that of buyers by almost 34%. This enormous gap serves to illustrate the overall imbalance in supply and demand. It was the lowest number of buyers since 2013, excluding the early pandemic months.
Sales of previously owned homes rose in May. They were up 0.8% over April, coming in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.03 million units. That’s because higher mortgage rates and purchase prices kept many would-be homebuyers on the sidelines in April. This persistent difficulty further complicated the housing market’s web.
“In a free and competitive market, competitors’ products and strategies should rise and fall on merit—not the whims of a monopolist gatekeeper like Zillow,” – Compass
The housing market’s struggle also comes as the two sides are embroiled in a legal battle that has seen Compass and Zillow spar. Odyssey of Compass’ lawsuit against Zillow. Like the feds’ original complaint alleges, they’re claiming that Zillow is employing an array of anticompetitive practices in order to maintain its home listings monopoly. Compass, however, alleges that Zillow is engaged in antitrust violations. Their accusation is that Zillow is purposely steering every single home listing to its platform to cash in.
A spokesperson from Zillow responded to these claims, stating, “Our focus remains on creating a level playing field that serves the best interests of everyone in the home buying and selling journey.” Zillow plans to defend itself against Compass’s claims to the fullest possible extent, and we’ll reiterate our long-standing support for competition in fair markets.
“The Zillow Ban seeks to ensure that all home listings in this country are steered on to its dominant search platform so Zillow can monetize each home listing and protect its monopoly,” – Compass
