New Listings Work to Keep Pace with Housing Demand

According to a new report from Redfin, the number of newly listed homes for sale during the four weeks ending February 20 was down just 2% year-over-year—the smallest decline since mid-November.

A larger pool of new listings were met with large demand, although pending sales only rose 1%, the first increase since mid-January. The market set new record highs again for home sale prices, asking prices, buyers’ mortgage payments, and the share of homes selling within days of hitting the market. A new all-time low for the total number of homes for sale was also reported.

”The good news for homebuyers is that each week more homes are being listed for sale,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr. “There is growing evidence that January’s dramatic drop in new listings was only a temporary blip driven by heavy winter storms and the spike in Covid cases, so homebuyers may have some hope for better selection in the coming spring season.”

Some key housing market takeaways for 400+ U.S. metro areas are as follows:

• The median home sale price was up 15% year over year to a record high of $358,750. This was up 32% from the same time in 2020.
• The median asking price of newly listed homes increased 15% year over year to an all-time high of $385,327. This was up 27% from the same time in 2020.
• The monthly mortgage payment on the median asking price rose to an all-time high of $2,014. This was up 24% from a year earlier when mortgage rates were 2.97%, and was up 34% from the same period in 2020 when rates were 3.45%.
• Pending home sales were up 0.8% year over year, the first increase since the four-week period ending January 16. Sales were up 32% from the same period in 2020, just prior to the start of the pandemic.
• Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell 25% year over year, dropping to an all-time low of 452,000. Listings were down 49% from the same period in 2020.
• 58% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, an all-time high. This was up from the 51% rate of a year earlier and 43% in 2020.
• 45% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within one week of hitting the market, an all-time high. This was up from 39% during the same period a year earlier and 30% in 2020.
• Homes that sold were on the market for a median of 28 days, down from 37 days a year earlier and 58 days in 2020.
• 43% of homes sold above list price, up from 32% a year earlier and 20% in 2020.
• On average, 2.7% of homes for sale each week had a price drop, up 0.4 percentage points from the same time in 2021, but down 0.6 percentage points from 2020.
• The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, rose to 100.5%. In other words, the average home sold for 0.5% above its asking price.

Other leading indicators of homebuying activity included mortgage purchase applications decreasing 10% week-over-week during the week ending February 18. For the week ending February 24, 30-year mortgage rates dropped slightly, falling to 3.89%.

According to ShowingTime, touring activity through February 20 was 17 percentage points ahead of 2021, and 2 points behind 2020 relative to the first week of January. Overall, the Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index rose 6% during the week ending February 20, and was up 15% from a year earlier.

To view the full report, including charts and methodology, click here.