With year-over-year inventory increasing by more than 50%, Realtor.com reports that fundamentals are tilting in favor of buyers due to the dampening housing market.

The website’s housing trends December report showed that during the month, there was a 54.7% (or roughly 244,000 units) annual increase in the number of for-sale active listings during the month. Thus, buyers have a greater selection of options when searching for a home. In spite of the growing number of homes for sale, the number of listings remains low. There were 38.2% fewer active listings in December 2022 than in 2017 to 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic caused historic distortions in the residential real estate sector).

Compared to December 2021, the number of total listings (including pending listings, or homes under contract but not yet sold) increased by 6%. Due to homes spending more time on the market, this is also an increase from November’s annual growth rate of 3%. While homes stayed on the market for 16 fewer days than they did in the average December from 2017 to 2019, the average home spent 67 days on the market in December, up 11 days year-over-year. The average home in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas spends 61 days on the market, which is slightly faster than in smaller cities.

Due to fewer pending sales in December 2022 than in the same month one year ago, the growth rate for total listings is still lower than that for active listings. A 36.8% drop in pending listings was reported in December after a similar drop in November. Realtor.com’s economic data manager, Sabrina Speianu, says this suggests existing home sales activity is starting to stabilize at “a relatively low level,” although this could change if there is an improvement with regards to inflation improves and a decline in mortgage rates.