Home Prices Start 2022 at New Record High Levels

Redfin, the Seattle-based, technology-powered real estate brokerage firm, reveals in their latest housing market report (1-13-22) that, during the week ending January 9, 2022, the median home sale price increased year-over-year by 16%, reaching an all-time record high of $365,000.

According to Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index (HDI), homebuyer activity jumped 9%, while the number of homes for sale fell to a new all-time low within the report’s time frame. The HDI also predicted that prices will keep climbing because the “supply drought keeps deepening while demand increases.”

With mortgage rates rising to 3.45% during the week ending January 13, 2022, homebuying is more expensive as overall inflation hits a 40-year high.

In a statement prepared for the release of the report, Redfin’s Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said, “The stage is now set for the most competitive January housing market in recorded history. Buyers are pouring into the market to claim a home before mortgage rates rise further as new listings slow to a trickle. The conditions are becoming increasingly challenging for first-time homebuyers, who will have to compete against more experienced buyers who are willing to do whatever it takes to win. But I expect that by the time mortgage rates increase to 3.6%, competition will settle down quickly to levels similar to late-2018.”