John Varano

Available homes continue to sell quickly with the typical property going under contract in less than a month, according to new numbers from the National Association of Realtors. The newly released data shows the average property sold in 26 days, which was unchanged from the month before. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, says there are not enough homes to meet buyer demand and it's causing available homes to sell quickly. “Inventory coming onto the market during this year's spring buying season – as evidenced again by last month's weak reading – was not even close to being enough to satisfy demand,” Yun said. “That is why home prices keep outpacing incomes and listings are going under contract in less than a month – and much faster – in many parts of the country.” Still, though there weren't enough new listings last month to bring immediate relief, it's an encouraging sign that total housing inventory was up nearly 3 percent in May. The improvement means there was a 4.1-month supply of available homes for sale at the current sales pace – a 6-month supply represents a healthy market.