Lack of Homes for Sale Helping to Maintain High Prices: Redfin
Originally published on April 28, 2023, by Ally Braun for Redfin.
New listings are down more than 20% from a year ago as homeowners hang onto low mortgage rates, causing buyers to snap up homes quickly and keeping prices from falling further.
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- (NASDAQ: RDFN) — New listings of homes for sale fell 22.4% nationwide from a year earlier during the four weeks ending April 23, one of the biggest declines since the start of the pandemic, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.
Homeowners are staying put because they want to hang onto their low mortgage rates—this week’s average 30-year mortgage rate increased for the second week in a row—and because it’s hard for them to find another home to buy. The lack of new listings is driving an unseasonal decline in the total number of homes for sale.
The dearth of inventory is also making some homes sell quickly. Nearly half of the homes on the market are selling within two weeks, the highest portion in nearly a year. The share has increased throughout April, atypical for this part of the year. That’s in spite of elevated mortgage rates keeping some buyers on the sidelines, with pending home sales down 17% year over year.