More and more, home sellers are ceding to the mounting pressure on affordability posed by this month’s rapid mortgage-rate hike. The median asking price of newly listed homes is down 1.5% from the all-time high it reached in the spring, and a record-high share of sellers dropped their asking price during the four-week period ending June 26. Pending sales continued to fall, posting their largest decline since May 2020, but there are signs that early-stage homebuyer demand is starting to level off.
“Data on home-tours,offers and mortgage purchase applications suggest that homebuyers have noticed the shift in power and are no longer leaving the market in droves,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “Buyers coming back will provide support to the housing market, but between now and the end of year I think the power will continue to shift towards buyers, resulting in mild price declines from month to month.”
“Homebuyers are worried about interest rates, having to go back to the office, getting laid off, and wondering if they can get a better deal by waiting out the market,” said Redfin Seattle-area real estate agent Caroline Loudenback. “On the other side, sellers are adjusting to this new reality and learning that sometimes there’s not much they can do to increase buyer interest. Sometimes price isn’t even the reason a home is sitting on the market without selling—some more remote areas that were super popular during the pandemic are now being overlooked as buyers reconsider long commutes with high gas prices. It’s a tricky market and you have to pay close attention to your local sales and listings to understand what’s happening.”
Unless otherwise noted, the data in this report covers the four-week period ending June 26. Redfin’s housing market data goes back through 2012.
Refer to our metrics definition page for explanations of all the metrics used in this report.
