Home Sellers Rushing to Find Buyers as Demand Weakens Further and the Housing Market Cools

In its latest report, Redfin, the Seattle-based, technology-powered real estate brokerage firm, is reporting that for the four-week period ending May 15, 2022, new listings climbed nearly twice as fast as they did last year at this time, and the share of listings with price drops rose to its highest level in nearly 2.5 years.

Redfin’s Home Buyer Demand Index (HBDI) posted its largest annual decline since April 2020. Still, desirable homes are getting scooped up at a record pace, a median 15 days on market. The HBDI noted that homebuyers continue to pull back in the wake of record-high purchasing costs. Mortgage purchase applications fell to their lowest level since May 2020, as did the number of homebuyers touring and offering on homes.

In remarks prepared to accompany the report, Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist, said:

“Rising mortgage rates have caused the housing market to shift, and now home sellers are in a hurry to find a buyer before demand weakens further. Not only are more homes hitting the market each week, but sellers are dropping their prices at rates not seen since before the pandemic. This sudden pressure on sellers is good news for those homebuyers who can still afford to buy at today’s higher mortgage rates. These trends point to an even cooler market this summer.”