Demand Slips But Housing Continue to Sell Above List Price

New home listings dropped 7% from a year ago but 54% of homes sold above their list price, up from 42% this time last year, said online real estate brokerage company Redfin.

Redfin today says the median home-sale price rose 6.2% in March, the fastest month-over-month gain at this time of year since 2013, to an all-time high of $412,700. The median home sale price was up 17% year over year.

“There really is a limit to homebuyer demand, even though the market over the past few years has made it seem endless,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “The sharp increase in mortgage rates – now at 5% or above – is pushing more homebuyers out of the market, but it also appears to be discouraging some homeowners from selling.

“With demand and supply both slipping, the market isn’t likely to flip from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market anytime soon,” she added.

The median asking price for a newly listed house increased 14% from a year earlier to $397,747, Redfin said, while 60% of homes went under contract within the first two weeks of being listed.

“If a home is on the market for more than a week, people start to wonder why or assume something is wrong with it,” said Redfin Boston real estate agent James Gulden. “Every offer I’ve written recently has faced multiple offers but some people have finally had enough of all the competition and are pulling out,”

“Despite these early signs that the market is slowing, it still feels as hot as ever for homebuyers, with new records set for home-selling speeds and price escalations, based on data going back to 2015,” Redfin said in a news release.