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Redfin Reports Home Prices Hit Another Record High, Pushing Pending Sales Down 4%

Prices keep rising because this spring’s inventory is lower than usual. The sliver of good news for buyers is that mortgage rates have declined slightly

(NASDAQ: RDFN) —The median U.S. home-sale price hit a record $387,600 during the four weeks ending May 19, up 4% from a year earlier. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. Weekly average mortgage rates dipped to 7.02% from a five-month high of 7.22% at the start of the month, bringing the median monthly housing payment to $2,854, roughly $20 shy of April’s all-time high.

High housing costs pushed pending home sales down 4.2% year over year, the biggest decline in three months (except the prior 4-week period, when sales declined 4.4%). Prices keep rising despite declining sales because there aren’t enough homes on the market: New listings are up about 8% year over year, but inventory remains lower than typical spring levels. Many homeowners are staying put because they would rather hold onto their relatively low mortgage rate than move up to a bigger and/or better home.

“Move-up buyers feel stuck because they’re ready for their next house, but it just doesn’t make financial sense to sell with current interest rates so high,” said Sam Brinton, a Redfin Premier agent in Salt Lake City, UT. “The homeowners listing right now are often doing so because they need to: One of my clients is selling because of a family emergency, and another couple is selling because they had a baby and simply don’t have enough room. Buyers should take note that many of today’s sellers are motivated; if a home doesn’t have other offers on the table, offer under asking price and/or ask for concessions because many sellers are willing to negotiate.”

For Redfin economists’ takes on the housing market, including more on how current financial events are impacting mortgage rates, please visit Redfin’s “From Our Economists” page.

Leading indicators

Indicators of homebuying demand and activity

 

Value (if applicable)

Recent change

Year-over-year change

Source

Daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate

7.09% (May 22)

Up from 6.99% a week earlier, but down from a 5-month high of 7.52% 4 weeks earlier

Up from 6.95%

Mortgage News Daily

Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate

7.02% (week ending May 16)

Down from 5-month high of 7.22% 2 weeks earlier

Up from 6.39%

Freddie Mac

Mortgage-purchase applications (seasonally adjusted)

 

Declined 1% from a week earlier (as of week ending May 17)

Down 11%

Mortgage Bankers Association

Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index (seasonally adjusted)

 

Essentially unchanged from a month earlier (as of week ending May 19)

Down 11%

Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, a measure of requests for tours and other homebuying services from Redfin agents

Touring activity

 

Up 31% from the start of the year (as of May 19)

At this time last year, it was up 22% from the start of 2023

ShowingTime, a home touring technology company

Google searches for “home for sale”

 

Down 8% from a month earlier (as of May 19)

Down 18%

Google Trends

Key housing-market data

U.S. highlights: Four weeks ending May 19, 2024

Redfin’s national metrics include data from 400+ U.S. metro areas, and is based on homes listed and/or sold during the period. Weekly housing-market data goes back through 2015. Subject to revision.

 

Four weeks ending May 19, 2024

Year-over-year change

Notes

Median sale price

$387,600

4%

All-time high

Median asking price

$420,250

6.6%

 

All-time high

Median monthly mortgage payment

$2,854 at a 7.02% mortgage rate

10.5%

$18 below all-time high set during the 4 weeks ending April 28

Pending sales

89,303

-4.2%

Biggest decline since 4 weeks ending Feb. 25 (except the prior 4-week period, when sales declined 4.4%)

New listings

102,671

8.5%

 

Active listings

901,194

14.8%

 

Months of supply

3.2

+0.6 pts.

4 to 5 months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller’s market conditions

Share of homes off market in two weeks

44.9%

Down from 49%

 

Median days on market

33

+3 days

 

Share of homes sold above list price

31.3%

Down from 34%

 

Share of homes with a price drop

6.4%

+2 pts.

Highest level since Nov. 2022

Average sale-to-list price ratio

99.5%

-0.1 pts.

 

Metro-level highlights: Four weeks ending May 19, 2024

Redfin’s metro-level data includes the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Select metros may be excluded from time to time to ensure data accuracy.

 

Metros with biggest year-over-year increases

Metros with biggest year-over-year decreases

Notes

Median sale price

Anaheim, CA (20.1%)

Detroit (16.9%)

San Jose, CA (12.9%)

Oakland, CA (12.5%)

West Palm Beach, FL (12%)

San Antonio (-1%)

Fort Worth, TX (-0.6%)

 

 

Decreased in 2 metros

Pending sales

San Jose, CA (18.4%)

San Francisco (8%)

San Diego (4.3%)

Newark, NJ (3.6%)

Columbus, OH (3.3%)

West Palm Beach, FL (-15.3%)

Atlanta (-14.9%)

Houston (-14.5%)

Phoenix (-12.3%)

Providence, RI (-11.6%)

Increased in 10 metros

New listings

San Jose, CA (36.7%)

Montgomery County, PA (26.2%)

Phoenix (26.1%)

Seattle (21.2%)

San Diego (21%)

Atlanta (-8.1%)

Chicago (-4.9%)

Detroit (-3.9%)

Virginia Beach, VA (-2.6%)

Newark, NJ (-2%)

Warren, MI (-1.8%)

Decreased in 6 metros

To view the full report, including charts, please visit:

https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-pending-sales-fall-prices-increase

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We run the country's #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can have our renovations crew fix it up to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1.6 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people.

Redfin’s subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide®, Title Forward® and WalkScore®.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin's press center, click here.

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