The latest sales report out by Redfin highlights two extremes for the housing market: Prices are sky high and inventory is very low.
For the week ending December 12, the median home sale price rose 14 percent year-over-year to $359,750, just shy of its all-time high of $359,950 set in July. At the same time, the number of homes for sale fell to an all-time low, down 25 percent from 2020 and 43 percent from 2019.
The number of new listings during the time period were down 8 percent compared to the same time last year. Additionally, asking prices of newly listed homes were up 12 percent from the same time a year ago and up 28 percent from 2019 to a median of $348,450.
“Homebuyers are being hit particularly hard by this wave of inflation,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “People who set out to buy a home in 2020 but delayed their plans or lost out in bidding wars may now find themselves priced out of homeownership. Right now the only thing likely to slow the rate of home-price growth is a mortgage-rate hike, which would be something of a Pyrrhic victory for homebuyers.”
As for the share of homes that went under contract, 42 percent had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market, above the 36 percent rate of a year earlier. Some 31 percent accepted offer within one week of hitting the market.
Of those homes that sold, 43 percent went more more than the listing price, up from 34 percent a year earlier.