Residential Real Estate News
Half of All U.S. Homes Are Selling Above List Price in May
According to national property broker Redfin, a record high of 50% of all homes sold for more than their list price during the four weeks ending May 16, 2021.This marks an increase of 23 percentage points from the same period a year earlier.
Pending sales for the seven-day period ending May 16 were down 10% from four weeks prior, compared to an 8% increase during the same period in 2019, suggesting that homebuying demand may have peaked for 2021.
Mortgage purchase applications decreased 4% week over week (seasonally adjusted). For the week ending May 20, 30-year mortgage rates increased slightly to 3.00%.
"We are seeing some early signs that the market has reached its maximum temperature," said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. "Mortgage purchase applications and pending sales have decreased, which may be a sign that some buyers would rather spend their money on restaurants, vacations, and other things they have held back on for the past year, instead of on housing now that the threat of the pandemic is dissipating in America. But make no mistake, the housing market is still very hot and will remain hot for the rest of the year."
Metrics to compare to 2020:
All but one of the metrics highlighted in the following list set a new housing record going back at least as far as 2012, when Redfin's data began.
Home prices hit a record high of $352,975 and were up 24% year over year, also a record. Asking prices increased to $358,975, also a record high.
A record-high 101.7% average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, up 3.2 percentage points year over year. This means that the average home sold for 1.7% more than its asking price.
A record low of just 17 days on market for homes that sold during the period, down 18 days from the same period in 2020.
A record-high 58% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market.
45% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within one week of hitting the market, down just slightly from the record high in the four-week period ending May 9.
Metrics to compare to 2019:
Pending home sales were up 22% from the same period in 2019.
New listings of homes for sale were down 12% from the same period in 2019. Compared to the four-week period ending April 18, new listings were up 3%, compared to a 7% increase during the same period in 2019.
Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell 49% from the same period in 2019.
