Housing Market Slows Pace as Inventory Gains Continue

The real estate market continued to slow its pace in June as inventory growth eased pressure for buyers to act fast, ""Redfin"":http://www.redfin.com/ revealed in its Fastest Real Estate Markets Report.

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The report ranks 22 markets across the country measured by the percentage of homes that go under contract within two weeks of debut. Metrics include single-family homes, condos, and townhouses.

According to Redfin's data, the percentage of homes under contract within 14 days fell to 30.5 percent nationwide in June, down from 31.9 percent in May. However, things are still moving faster than they were last June, when only 23.2 percent of homes went under contract that quickly.

""The market sped up considerably this year, with the percentage of homes under contract in two weeks or less increasing from 22.5 percent in December to 33.2 percent in April,"" said Redfin analyst Tim Ellis. ""As of June the market has given up some of that ground, rewinding to a level roughly equal to where we were in February.""

Once again, California was home to some of the fastest-moving areas in the country, with San Jose, San Francisco, and Ventura earning the top three spots. The number of houses under contract within two weeks was above or approaching 50 percent in all three metros.

At the same time, many of the Golden State's markets also experienced the greatest slowdown over the month, with Sacramento and San Diego experiencing significant declines in the number of fast-selling homes.

The slowest-moving markets were Las Vegas and Philadelphia, which saw 11 percent and 9.1 percent of homes go under contract within two weeks, respectively.

Redfin's report also found that months' supply finally saw a boost in June following three straight months of inventory gains. According to the brokerage, months' supply was 3.0 in June, up from 2.7 in May. While there were no metro areas in the June report that had climbed into ""buyer's market territory"" (with six or more months' supply), Atlanta came closest at 5.7 months.