Redfin reports that one third of homes sold in the four weeks went under contract within seven days of hitting the market. The rate has been on the rise for the past six weeks, which is unusual for this time of year when the market typically slows down.
Experts assume the market is heating up due to steady homebuyer demand, and this is proven by the fact home tours are up twice as much from January as they were this time of year in 2019. Still, homes for sale remain few and far between.
“Homes continue to sell quicker and quicker,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “There are still plenty of homebuyers lying in wait who missed out during the Spring frenzy and they are snatching up homes quickly. Now those homes are selling for near-record prices. The housing market will likely stay hot until mortgage rates rise substantially.”
The median home-sale price increased 13% year-over-year to $358,125, up 30% from the same time period in 2019. The asking price of newly listed homes increased 11% from last year and up 26% from the same period in 2019 to a median of $362,335. The current median asking price is down 1% from from the all-time-high set during a four-week period ending October 3.
The smallest share of homes sold above list price since April 2021. According to the report, 45% of homes sold above list price, up from 35% a year earlier and 22% in 2019.
Pending homes sales were up 2% from last year and up 47% compared to the same period in 2019, which was a typical year in sales and listings.
Looking towards inventory, new listings of homes for sale were down 8% from last year, but remain positive compared to 2019, increasing 6%. Meanwhile active listings fell 22% from a year earlier and were down 40% from 2019.
In terms of how fast these homes sold, 45% of homes that went under contract accepted an offer within the first two weeks on the market, above the 42% rate a year earlier and the 31% rate in 2019. Meanwhile 33% of homes sold even faster by accepting an offer within one week of hitting the market, up from 30% in 2020 and 20% in 2019. Since September 12, the share of homes under contract within a week is up 2.3 percentage points.
Homes that sold were on the market for a median of 23 days — a full week longer than the all-time low of 15 days in June and July — down 31 days from last year and down 44 days from 2019.
During the week ending on October 22, mortgage applications were up 4% week-over-week on a seasonally adjusted basis. For the week ending on October 21, mortgage rates rose to 3.09%, the highest level since early April.
Additionally, from January 1 to October 24, 2021, home tours were up 7% compared to a 20% increase over the same time period last year.
