Sellers are hesitant to jump into today’s market and it appears buyers are feeling the chill as well. According to new data from Redfin, national pending home sales fell 13 percent year-over-year for the four week period ending September 17.
What’s significant about that time period is that mortgage rates were sitting near a two-decade high as home prices rose 3 percent annually—not exactly ideal conditions for new sales.
The tide may turn slightly, however, as Redfin notes that mortgage applications were up 2 percent from a week earlier (as of Sept. 15). However, hesitant buyers may want to consider a move sooner than later, given that the Federal Reserve decided against an interest-rate hike last week but also signaled that interest rates are likely to remain higher than anticipated into 2024.
In terms of inventory, new listings were down 6.7 percent during the aforementioned four-week period. That is the smallest decline in over a year, but that’s partly because new listings fell rapidly at this time in 2022.