- theMReport.com - https://themreport.com -

Home Listing Prices Feel Pinch of Market Forces

The housing market is displaying more signals that the pandemic-driven housing frenzy is coming to an end, as nearly one in five home sellers dropped their price during the four week period ending May 22 —the highest level since October 2019— according to a new report from Redfin [1].

Measures of competition including the typical listing’s time on market, the share of homes pending sale within one week and the share of homes sold above list price have all plateaued. Mortgage-purchase applications were at a level on par with June 2020, and the number of homebuyers touring and offering on homes, as measured by the Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, posted its largest annual decline since April 2020.Price Drops“The picture of a softening housing market is becoming more clear, especially to home sellers who are increasingly turning to price drops as buyers become more cost-conscious under higher mortgage rates,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “For now, mortgage rates have stabilized, and I expect prices to do the same. This will remove some uncertainty for buyers. That means that as long as a home is priced conservatively, it still has a good chance of selling quickly.”

Leading indicators of homebuying activity:

Key housing market takeaways for 400+ U.S. metro areas:

To view the full report, including charts and methodology, click here [2].