Redfin: ‘Record-Breaking’ Housing Market Continues

Redfin, Seattle, said home prices and year-over-year price gains hit another high as prices continued to rise during a time of year that they usually decline.

Redfin reported pending home sales are also way up from 2019. “The fact that the market is so steady continues to be a surprising sign of strength during a time of major economic uncertainty,” Redfin said.

For the week ending August 16, the seasonally adjusted Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index increased by 29% from pre-pandemic levels in January and February, showing no signs of the typical seasonal slowdown. The median price of homes that sold during the four-week period ending August 16 rose by 11% year over year—the largest increase in more than six years—to a record-high $316,375. In the last week of the period, prices were up 14% from a year earlier.

The report said pending home sales for the four-week period were still very strong compared to 2019—up 15%. During just the last week of the period pending sales did increase 0.6% from the prior week, but in contrast to ever-increasing home prices, they are showing signs of a more typical seasonal decline, having decreased 8% overall since peaking during the week ending July 19.

“Schools are beginning to start again, and it seems like that has slowed the amount of homebuyer activity a little bit, but that doesn’t make the market less crazy,” said Oakland, Calif.-area Redfin agent Veronica Clyatt. “Instead of 20 offers on a home, you may ‘just’ see 10. But prices have not gone down—home price increases haven’t slowed at all.”

Redfin said of homes that went under contract during the four weeks ending August 16, 46.5% found a buyer within two weeks of hitting the market—a slight uptick from the four-week period ending August 9, and the highest level Redfin has seen since at least 2012. During the same period last year, 32.8% of homes found a buyer within two weeks.

The report can be accessed at https://www.redfin.com/blog/record-breaking-housing-market-continues/.  

In a separate report, Redfin said sales of newly built homes climbed 10.1% year over year in July, recovering to pre-pandemic levels. Sales of existing homes rose just 5.3% in the same month.

Meanwhile, the supply of new-construction homes for sale slid 28.4%, the largest drop since at least 2013. Still, that wasn’t as severe as the record 37% decline in the inventory of existing homes last month. The relatively acute shortage of existing homes means that newly built homes now make up one of every five houses for sale—the largest share on record.

“The shortage of both new and existing homes is intensifying across America right now as record-low mortgage rates drive more demand, but the shortage of new homes is less severe due to a surge in construction right before the pandemic,” said Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari. “As a result, sales of new homes are growing faster than sales of existing homes. Sales of new homes are also on the rise because the coronavirus pandemic is fueling interest in the suburbs—where there tends to be more space to build new homes.”

The report can be accessed at https://www.redfin.com/blog/new-home-construction-july.