Home sales dropped 6% year-over-year in August, down 1.4% from July, a Redfin report found. It’s the first annual decline in home sales in 15 months. But prices are still high, up 16% year-to-year. Median prices increased in almost all of the largest metros tracked by Redfin, though Milwaukee, WI, and Bridgeport, CT both declined. The median price nationally for homes sold was $380,271. Austin, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City saw the largest spikes in their median prices, up 36%, 25%, and 24%, respectively. “When it comes to home prices in this market, what goes up stays up. That’s especially true in the Sun Belt; home prices are up more than 20% from last year in Austin and Phoenix,” Redfin…
Good Morning! Today is Monday, September 13. Democratic Senators returning from a week long break are considering a compromise on the $3.5 trillion spending bill. The Federal Reserve said continuing inflation comes from unusually high prices for goods like electronics and cars. Supreme Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett said she’s worried the public sees the Court as a partisan body, while refusing to comment on the unsigned Texas abortion ruling. And in mortgage and housing news… Bidding-War Rates Hit New Low: A Redfin analysis found 58.8% of home offers faced competition, the lowest rate in 2021. Forbearances Down: After dropping last week, the total number of mortgages in active forbearance declined another 2% this week, according to Black Knight. Love Letters: Prospective homebuyers are writing “love letters” to get an…
In another sign that the red-hot housing market may be returning to earth, the number of houses caught up in buyers’ bidding wars has fallen to a 2021 low. According to a Redfin analysis, 58.8% of home offers generated a competition among buyers. That’s down from April’s peak of 74.3 percent. Redfin found that more than half of its agents still face challenges from other bidders on home offers, but that number is inching down. In July, 62.1% of offers written had competition for the home. Though it’s down, the number remains high, rivaling August 2020’s 59.4% bidding-war rate. Home prices are cooling as potential buyers back away from soaring prices and more inventory arrives on the market. Forbearance expirations…
The national median for monthly mortgage payments increased faster than rents in 25 out of 50 major U.S. metro areas, but rents are speeding up as mortgage hikes begin to slow, a Redfin report found. Average monthly rents increased 9% over the past year, reaching $1,836 in August, but median mortgage payments rose 67% faster. August’s numbers represent the seventh month in a row mortgages outpaced rents. But August also saw a dip in mortgage payment growth, dropping to $1,494, while rents continued to climb. Rent prices have exploded as would-be homeowners struggled to find affordable houses and battled cash-rich investors in bidding wars. “Record high home price growth has priced many renters out of buying, leaving many facing higher…
The pandemic – and the adoption of remote work – is driving an increased number of relocations, with the most people leaving the biggest metropolitan areas such as New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. A Redfin analysis found that 29.4 percent of its users looked to move to another city or town in October and November, up from 25.4 percent the year before. Redfin said it’s the highest share of people looking to relocate since it started tracking the data in 2017. RankMetroNet OutflowNet OutflowLast YearPortion ofLocal UsersSearchingElsewherePortion ofLocal UsersSearchingElsewhereLast YearTop DestinationTop Out-of-StateDestination 1New York,NY37,30524,40235.2%37.1%Boston, MABoston, MA2SanFrancisco, CA33,52025,35624.0%23.0%Sacramento,CASeattle, WA3Los Angeles,CA20,82114,28318.0%16.5%San Diego,CALas Vegas,NV4Washington,DC10,2285,24613.0%10.8%Salisbury,MDSalisbury,MD5Chicago, IL5,4142,97612.3%10.2%South Bend,INSouth Bend,IN6Denver, CO4,4082,26427.7%23.1%Seattle, WASeattle, WA7Seattle, WA2,495-2,90714.1%11.2%Los Angeles, CALos Angeles,CA8Milwaukee,WI2,39579642.0%38.4%Chicago, ILChicago, IL9San Diego,CA2,256-2,11425.7%18.7%Los Angeles,CAPhoenix, AZ10Indianapolis,IN1,41635439.5%30.6%Chicago, ILChicago, IL Meanwhile, more people are…
Tis the season for year-end lists and predictions, and Redfin released its top 10 predictions for the 2021 housing market. Without further ado, here’s the list: Mortgage rates will remain historically low at 3 percentThere will be more home sales than in any year since 2006, but price growth will slowThere will be more new homes built than in any year since 2006The number of Americans relocating will be the highest it has been in 16 years, which will help the economies of affordable places like Buffalo, Cleveland and PittsburghThe homeownership rate will reach 70 percent for the first time since 2005San Antonio, Tucson and Tampa will be the hottest housing markets as major southern cities like Austin, Phoenix and…
More often than not, you still can’t put an offer on a home without someone else making a competing offer. For the sixth month in a row, more than half of home sales have been the subjects of bidding wars, according to a new report released by Redfin on its properties. In October, 56.8 percent of Redfin offers on homes in the United States faced competition – down from a peak of 59.3 percent in August. “Has the market calmed down since the summer? Yes, but every offer I submit still faces multiple competing bids and we continue to see a lot more buyers than we normally would at this time of year,” said Melissa Killham, a Redfin real estate…
Redfin on Thursday announced financial results for the third quarter, with revenues down slightly but profit up significantly from last year. Third-quarter revenue dropped 1 percent year over year to $237 million, while gross profits was $93 million – an increase of 74 percent from the third quarter of 2019. Net income per share attributable to common stock was $0.30, up from $0.07 last year. Redfin also reported that gross profits on real estate services were $92 million, an increase of 70 percent from $54 million in the third quarter of 2019. “Redfin’s increasing share of North America’s online real estate audience, coupled with a strong housing market, has generated demand faster than we can recruit agents, lenders and partners,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “Our market…
