The housing market showed continued signs of strength last month, pointing toward a healthy spring season. In welcome news for buyers, newly listed homes shot up by 11.5 percent over last year, the largest increase since October 2013.
Across the 50 major metros that Redfin tracks, the number of homes sold increased 3.2 percent year over year. The median sale price increased 5.4 percent from February last year, to $258,300. For seven months now, price growth has remained steady at a level between 4.9 percent and 5.4 percent.
With more homes for sale, buyers can be choosier and less aggressive with their offers. In February, 16.4 percent of properties sold above asking price, down from 18.6 percent a year ago. The median difference in sale-to-list price was -3.5 percent compared to -3 percent a year ago. And the share of Redfin offers that encountered competition also dropped, by 1.6 percentage points to 58.2 percent. While that may sound like a small drop, it’s the 18th consecutive month that bidding wars have eased year over year.
Click here to download the latest Real-Time Market Tracker in an Excel spreadsheet.
