Year-Over-Year Home Prices Post 17% Increase While Active Listings Decline by 42%

Redfin, the Seattle-based technology-powered real estate brokerage company, is reporting that for the 4-week period ending on March 14, 2021, the median home sales price increased 17% year-over-year to $330,250 — an all-time record in this data set, which dates back through 2016. Here are some other facts Redfin has gathered. 1) New listing for home sales were down -17% from a year earlier. 2) Pending home sales were up 21% year-over-year, but that is the smallest increase since August of 2020. 3) Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell 42% from 2020 to a new all-time low. This is the largest decrease on record in this data, which goes back through 2016. And 4) 44% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within one week of hitting the market, up from 32% during the same period a year earlier. This is also an all-time high for this measure. During the 7-day period ending March 14, 48% sold in one week or less. In a statement prepared for the release of the report Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s Chief Economist said, “This time last year, the housing market was shutting down as many cities implemented strict shelter in place orders. A year later the pandemic is still with us, but the housing market is red-hot. It’s so hot some buyers are acting irrationally. Some people are willing to do whatever it takes to win a bidding war to the point they may be overpaying. Still, I wouldn’t call this a housing bubble because the demand for homes is truly there and the buyers can afford these high prices. Bubbles burst; I don’t see that happening. The best hope buyers have is that home prices start to grow at a slower pace, but I don’t expect prices to fall.”