Listing of Homes For Sale Increase Just as Home Buying Demand Fades

According to the latest report from Redfin, the Seattle-based, technology-powered real estate brokerage, for the week ending July 4, 2021, the number of newly listed homes for sale surpassed 2019 levels for the first time since the start of the year. Despite a long-awaited increase in the supply of homes for sale, homebuying demand continued to slip, leaving the market feeling a few degrees cooler.

Some other key take a ways from the report: 1) The median home-sale price increased 22% year over year to $364,430, a record high. 2) Asking prices of newly listed homes were up 12% from the same time a year ago to a median of $359,500. This was down 1.1% from the four-week period ending June 27. 3) Pending home sales were up 17% year over year, the smallest increase in almost a year, since the four-week period ending July 19, 2020. Pending sales were down 6% from the four-week period ending May 30, compared to a 3% decrease over the same period in 2019. 4) 54% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market. 40% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within one week of hitting the market.

In a statement prepared for the release of the report, Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s Chief Economist said, “Many buyers have backed away from the housing market and are waiting until more and better homes are listed. Buyers don’t have the same sense of urgency that they did at the beginning of the year. They aren’t racing to buy before prices increase, because asking prices have already increased and stabilized. And they aren’t racing to buy before mortgage rates go up, because rates have dropped back below 3% and are likely to stay low. With more new listings starting to come on the market, buyers who threw in the towel may want to look again because the market is tilting more in their favor.”