A 39% increase in housing inventory in Dallas signals a thaw in inventory in parts of the US

Additional stock is coming to the US housing marketespecially in the South, and an increasing number of sellers are lowering their asking prices.

Advertisements of existing homes rose 12% in February compared to a year earlier, and one in five of them are seeing price cuts, according to Zillow Group Inc.

While supply remains tight and the few available homes typically go under contract in just 17 days, the increase in supply is a welcome sign for potential buyers. The gains have been especially strong in many southern metros, where home prices have soared during the pandemic.

Because borrowing costs are prohibitively high, many homeowners who took out low mortgage rates years ago are reluctant to move. Some may be getting ready to sell now, even if it means taking a small discount from recent highs. According to Zillow, median home values ​​nationally have increased 41% since before the pandemic, meaning most sellers are ahead of the game when they bought the home.

“For many households with record high net worth, the wait for potentially lower interest rates later in the year may not be worth it,” Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow, said in a statement.