US Median Monthly Housing Payments and Home Prices Both Hit All-Time High

On Thursday, Redfin reported that during the four-week period ending May 5th, the US median monthly housing payment hit an all-time high of $2,894. Year-over-year, housing payments are up 14%. Meanwhile, home prices climbed 4.5% higher to their own record high.

There were fewer new listings during the four-week period ending on May 5th than any comparable period on record except for 2020 and 2023. Redfin says this is the result of would-be sellers opting to stay put to hold onto their low mortgage rates, especially as mortgage rates rose throughout April.

Pending home sales dropped 3% from a year earlier, their biggest decline in two months. There are also signs that competition for homes is slowing during a time of year when it typically speeds up: 30% of homes sold above asking price—flat from a week earlier and down from 32% a year earlier and more than 50% from two years earlier. And 6.2% of home sellers dropped their asking price, the highest share since November and up from 4.3% a year ago. But Redfin highlighted one signal that demand is starting to pick up: Mortgage-purchase applications increased 2% weekly.