With homebuyer demand continuing to fall, more home sellers are beginning to slash the prices of their homes. Unfortunately for some buyers, home prices are still 15% higher year-over-year and the number of pending sales has dipped to the lowest level since April 2021. Aside from the number of pending sales, the overall growth in pending home sales has reached its slowest level of growth since June 2020.
“The housing market has clearly become slightly more favorable to buyers,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “Homes are taking longer to sell, which gives buyers more time to make thoughtful decisions about whether to make offers. Home prices have plateaued, so buyers shouldn't feel rushed to buy before prices rise further. And the fact that more sellers are dropping their list price is a sign that sellers have to be realistic about their price expectations.”
The median home-sale price now stands at $359,983, marking a 15% year-over-year increase. Asking prices for newly list homes are also up 10% year-over-year to a median of $354,665.
The report revealed that mortgage purchase applications increased 1% week-over-week (seasonally adjusted) during the week ending August 27. For the week ending August 26, 30-year mortgage rates increased slightly to 2.87%.
“New listings of homes for sale were nearly flat (-0.1%) from a year earlier,” according to Redfin. “The number of homes being listed is in a typical seasonal decline, down 10% from the 2021 peak reached during the four-week period ending June 27.”
Homes that went under contract are still seeing accepted offers at a high rate, though not as high as earlier this year. Redfin reported that 48% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, above the 44% rate of a year earlier, but down 8% from the 2021 peak set during the four-week period ending March 28, 2021.
