The uptick in new listings, along with slow sales, is contributing to a growing pool of supply for homebuyers to choose from. It has also led to the typical home selling for 2% under asking price, the biggest discount in two years—but housing costs are still ultra-high.
Redfin Reports New Listings Post Biggest Increase of the Year While Homebuying Demand Declines, Leading to Big Pool of Supply
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Redfin Journalist Services:
Tana Kelley
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(NASDAQ: RDFN) — New listings of U.S. homes for sale rose 7.9% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending February 2, the biggest increase since the end of last year. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.
On the buying side, pending sales have improved marginally from last month, but they’re still down 8.1% year over year. It’s a similar story at earlier stages of the homebuying process: Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index—a seasonally adjusted measure of tours and other buying services from Redfin agents—ticked up slightly from the week before, but remains near its lowest level since last spring.
The uptick in new listings and lack of sales is contributing to a growing pool of supply for homebuyers to choose from. There are 5 months of supply on the market, up from 4.4 months a year earlier and the most in six years, except the prior four-week period. Months of supply is the length of time it would take for the existing supply of homes to be bought up at the market’s current pace; it’s typically used to measure the balance between supply and demand, with a longer span indicating favorable conditions for buyers. The big pool of inventory has led to homes selling for under their asking price: The typical home is selling for 2% less than list price, the biggest discount in nearly two years.
There are several reasons would-be buyers are holding off. First, even though homes are typically selling for under asking price, costs are still near record highs. Stubbornly high home prices and mortgage rates have pushed the median monthly housing payment up to $2,784, up 8.3% year over year to just $21 shy of the all-time high. But it’s worth noting that daily average mortgage rates dropped below 7% this week for the first time since mid-December. Second, some buyers are waiting because they don’t want to make a major purchase amid uncertain federal economic policy. And finally, snow and extreme cold across the Midwest, Northeast and South kept many house hunters at home in January.
“Listings are picking up as we inch toward spring,” said Joe Paolazzi, a Redfin Premier agent in Pittsburgh. “Homeowners have been holding off, waiting for mortgage rates to go down or market conditions to improve, and now it seems clear rates have declined about as much as they’re going to decline for now. Sellers are also noticing that even though there are fewer buyers in the market than usual, the buyers who are on the hunt are serious and willing to pay a fair price. There are bidding wars for homes in desirable neighborhoods, and for investment properties that would be easy to rent out.”
For Redfin economists’ takes on the housing market, please visit Redfin’s “From Our Economists” page.
Leading indicators |
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Indicators of homebuying demand and activity |
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Value (if applicable) |
Recent change |
Year-over-year change |
Source |
Daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate |
6.99% (Feb. 5) |
First dip below 7% since mid-December; down from 7.26% 3 weeks earlier |
Essentially unchanged |
Mortgage News Daily |
Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate |
6.95% (week ending Jan. 30) |
Down from 7.04% 2 weeks earlier, but still near highest level since May |
Up from 6.63% |
Freddie Mac |
Mortgage-purchase applications (seasonally adjusted) |
|
Down 4% from a week earlier (as of week ending Jan. 31) |
Essentially unchanged (+0.2%) |
Mortgage Bankers Association |
Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index (seasonally adjusted) |
|
Near lowest level since July (as of week ending Feb. 2) |
Down 4%
|
Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, a measure of tours and other homebuying services from Redfin agents |
Touring activity |
|
Up 13% from the start of the year (as of Feb. 3) |
At this time last year, it was up 13% from the start of 2024 |
ShowingTime, a home touring technology company |
Google searches for “home for sale” |
|
Essentially unchanged from a month earlier (as of Feb. 2) |
Essentially unchanged
|
Google Trends |
Key housing-market data |
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U.S. highlights: Four weeks ending Feb. 2, 2025 Redfin’s national metrics include data from 400+ U.S. metro areas, and are based on homes listed and/or sold during the period. Weekly housing-market data goes back through 2015. Subject to revision. |
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Four weeks ending Feb. 2, 2025 |
Year-over-year change |
Notes |
Median sale price |
$376,750 |
4.6% |
|
Median asking price |
$412,157 |
5.7% |
|
Median monthly mortgage payment |
$2,784 at a 6.95% mortgage rate |
8.3% |
$21 shy of April’s all-time high |
Pending sales |
65,603 |
-8.1% |
|
New listings |
76,194 |
7.9% |
Biggest increase in 5 weeks |
Active listings |
897,798 |
12.5% |
Smallest increase in nearly a year |
Months of supply |
5 |
+0.6 pts. to longest span since Feb. 2019, except the prior 4-week period |
4 to 5 months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller’s market conditions |
Share of homes off market in two weeks |
29% |
Down from 32% |
|
Median days on market |
55 |
+6 days to longest span in nearly 5 years |
|
Share of homes sold above list price |
20.7% |
Down from 22% |
|
Average sale-to-list price ratio |
98% |
Down from 98.1% |
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Metro-level highlights: Four weeks ending Feb. 2, 2025 Redfin’s metro-level data includes the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Select metros may be excluded from time to time to ensure data accuracy. |
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Metros with biggest year-over-year increases |
Metros with biggest year-over-year decreases |
Notes |
Median sale price |
Pittsburgh (15.7%) New Brunswick, NJ (12.1%) Newark, NJ (12.1%) Nassau County, NY (11.5%) Fort Lauderdale, FL (11.2%)
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Austin, TX (-5.5%) Tampa, FL (-3.5%) San Francisco (-1.9%) Jacksonville, FL (-0.8%) Atlanta (-0.6%)
|
Declined in 5 metros |
Pending sales |
Portland, OR (7.1%) Tampa, FL (2.3%) Milwaukee (1%) Pittsburgh (0.4%)
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Miami (-21.6%) Atlanta (-21.1%) Houston (-20.2%) San Diego (-20%) San Antonio (-17.3%) |
Increased in 4 metros |
New listings |
Orlando, FL (27.7%) San Jose, CA (26.7%) Oakland, CA (26.1%) Tampa, FL (25.6%) Phoenix (23.8%) |
Detroit (-13.9%) San Antonio (-13.5%) Chicago (-11.3%) Atlanta (-6.6%) Indianapolis (-6.1%) |
Declined in 12 metros
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To view the full report, including charts, please visit:
https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-new-listings-increase-demand-declines
About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, rentals, lending, and title insurance services. We run the country's #1 real estate brokerage site. Our customers can save thousands in fees while working with a top agent. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1.6 billion in commissions. We serve approximately 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 4,000 people.
Redfin’s subsidiaries and affiliated brands include: Bay Equity Home Loans®, Rent.™, Apartment Guide®, Title Forward® and WalkScore®.
For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, email press@redfin.com. To view Redfin's press center, click here.
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