Home Buying Demand Softens Slightly but Home Prices Continue to Escalate

Redfin, the Seattle-based technology powered real estate brokerage firm, is reporting that their Homebuyer Demand Index was down -14% from its peak 9 weeks ago and pending sales have declined -10% from their early-May peak. For the 4-week period ending June 13, 2021, Redfin is reporting that the asking price of newly listed homes were up 14% year-over-year, to a median of $363,450, down -0.2% from $364,225 during the 4-weeks period ending June 6, 2021. New listings of homes for sale were up 9% from a year earlier but have been basically flat since early May and are now -3% below pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell -35% from 2020 and have been relatively flat since late February.

In remarks prepared for the release of the report, Redfin’s Lead Economist Taylor Marr said, “Many measures of the housing market, such as pending home sales, mortgage applications and touring activity, showed some improvement this past week following the Memorial Day slump, but don’t call it a comeback. Seasonally adjusted homebuyer demand is unlikely to rebound to the levels we saw earlier in the spring. While some buyers will find reprieve in less intense bidding wars this summer, others may be disappointed that homes remain hard to find.”