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Browse the siteOctober 25 2022
Home sales continue to decline and mortgage applications are at their lowest level in 25 years.
SEATTLE -- Pending home sales and new listings both saw their biggest year-over-year drops since the start of the pandemic, dipping to levels roughly on par with April 2020, according to a new report from Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage.
U.S housing market activity is continuing to slow down as mortgage rates sit at a 20-year high. Mortgage-purchase applications fell to their lowest level in 25 years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Sales are dropping more than listings. Sellers are still catching on to the prices buyers who are in the market are willing and able to pay in the face of near-7% mortgage rates. Homes are taking twice as long to sell as they did in the spring. A record share of sellers are dropping their asking price and the typical home is selling for 1% less than its final asking price–the biggest discount since August 2020.
"With rates sitting above 6.5% for three weeks and no indication they'll come down before the end of the year, people are only buying and selling homes if they need to," said Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao. "Prospective buyers are waiting for prices and/or mortgage rates to come down and sellers want to squeeze as much money out of their sale as possible. Homes will eventually sell, but it may take a few months, and sellers need to meet buyers where they are. That means lower prices and negotiations, including things like giving buyers a credit to buy down their mortgage rate and paying for home repairs. Prospective sellers may also consider renting out their home for a few months until demand recovers."
"Buyers should keep similar things in mind when they're doing the math of which homes they can afford," Zhao continued. "Try negotiating down the sale price; now's the time to make what would have been considered a lowball offer six months ago. Ask for concessions and repairs to make up for high mortgage rates."
Unless otherwise noted, this data covers the four-week period ending October 16. Redfin's weekly housing market data goes back through 2015.
View the full report, including charts, here.
About Redfin
Redfin is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, instant home-buying (iBuying), rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We sell homes for more money and charge half the fee. We also run the country's #1 real-estate brokerage site. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can take an instant cash offer from Redfin or have our renovations crew fix up their home to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 6,000 people.