The share of homes selling within one to two weeks is on the rise during a time of year that typically sees the market slow down, according to a new report from Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage.
A third of pending sales were under contract within a week, up 2.2 points from a month earlier. During the same period in 2019, this measure fell 0.4 points. The hot market is largely fueled by the ongoing crisis-level supply shortage. Over the past six weeks, active listings of homes for sale have dropped 5.9%, compared to a decline of just 1.6% over the same period in 2019.
“During the pandemic, a lot of my sellers were trying to get out of Seattle and take their equity to a lower priced market,” said Redfin listing agent David Palmer. “Most sellers who are on the market now are very motivated to move: landlords with vacant homes, families who already upgraded and need to sell their previous homes, couples splitting up. As homebuying demand declines into the fall, I’m only encouraging people who have urgency to sell now. Otherwise, I’m advising them to wait until the new year.”
Key housing market takeaways for 400+ U.S. metro areas:
Unless otherwise noted, this data covers the four-week period ending October 10. Redfin’s housing market data goes back through 2012.
- The median home-sale price increased 13% year over year to $355,600.
- Asking prices of newly listed homes were up 12% from the same time a year ago to a median of $362,047, down 0.7% from the all-time high set during the previous four-week period ending October 3 as sellers began to back down from the record-high asking prices we saw in September. Asking prices typically increase in September and then begin to decline in October through the end of the year.
- Pending home sales were up 4% year over year, and up 46% compared to the same period in 2019.
- Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell 21% from 2020.
- 46% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, above the 42% rate of a year earlier.
- 33% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within one week of hitting the market, up from 30% during the same period a year earlier.
- Homes that sold were on the market for a median of 22 days, a full week longer than the all-time low of 15 days seen in late June and July, and down from 32 days a year earlier.
- 46% of homes sold above list price, up from 34% a year earlier, but the smallest share since April.
- On average, 5.1% of homes for sale each week had a price drop, up 1.4 percentage points from the same time in 2020, and the highest level since the four-week period ending October 13, 2019.
- The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, decreased to 100.7%, the lowest level since April. In other words, the average home sold for 0.7% above its asking price.
Other leading indicators of homebuying activity:
- Mortgage purchase applications increased 2% week over week (seasonally adjusted) during the week ending October 8. For the week ending October 7, 30-year mortgage rates fell slightly to 2.99%.
- From January 1 to October 10, home tours were up 8%, compared to a 27% increase over the same period last year, but about the same rate as 2019, according to home tour technology company ShowingTime.
- The Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index fell 1 point during the week ending October 10, and was up 7% from a year earlier.
