Housing Market Update: Buyers Get Some Relief As New Listings Finally Increase, More Sellers Drop Prices

October 26, 2023 by Dana Anderson

New listings have posted their first annual increase since July 2022 as some sellers tire of waiting for mortgage rates to come down and others worry that prices will decline.

New listings of homes for sale rose 0.3% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending October 22–a small increase, but the first since July 2022. More homeowners are putting their homes on the market as mortgage rates remain elevated near 8%. Some sellers are accepting that rates are unlikely to meaningfully decline anytime soon and finally parting with their relatively low rates, while others are nervous tepid demand could cause home prices to fall if they wait any longer. It’s also worth noting that new listings were falling fast at this time last year as mortgage rates rose.

Buyers are welcoming even a small uptick in listings after nearly a year and a half of declines. Although many homebuyers are staying on the sidelines, with mortgage-purchase applications down 2% week over week to their lowest level in nearly 30 years, some house hunters are out there. Pending home sales posted their smallest annual decline in a year and a half (though that’s partly because pending sales were dropping at this time last year).

“Some people are selling right now because they’re concerned home values will go down, though that’s definitely not a foregone conclusion,” said Ali Mafi, a Redfin Premier agent in San Francisco. “Others are noticing an uptick in demand and testing the waters. My best advice for homeowners who are selling right now is to be realistic: Even though there are a few more buyers out there, this isn’t 2021. Price your home fairly so it will sell as fast as possible.”

Buyers’ budgets continue to take a hit with prices rising in much of the country and persistently high mortgage rates. Declining affordability has led to price adjustments: Roughly 7% of U.S. homes for sale had a price drop during the four weeks ending October 22, on average, the highest share on record.

Leading indicators

Indicators of homebuying demand and activity
	Value (if applicable)	Recent change	Year-over-year change	Source
Daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate	7.98% (Oct. 25)	Down from 8% a week earlier, but still near its highest level in 23 years	Up from 7.29%	Mortgage News Daily
Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate	7.63% (week ending Oct. 19)	Highest level in 23 years	Up from 6.94%	Freddie Mac
Mortgage-purchase applications (seasonally adjusted)		Down 2% from a week earlier (as of week ending Oct. 20)	Down 22% to its lowest level in nearly 30 years	Mortgage Bankers Association
Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index (seasonally adjusted)		Unchanged from a month earlier (as of the week ending Oct. 22)	Up 4%	Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, a measure of requests for tours and other homebuying services from Redfin agents
Google searches for “home for sale”		Down 12% from a month earlier (as of Oct. 21)	Down 12%	Google Trends

Key housing-market data

U.S. highlights: Four weeks ending October 22, 2023 Redfin’s national metrics include data from 400+ U.S. metro areas, and is based on homes listed and/or sold during the period. Weekly housing-market data goes back through 2015. Subject to revision.
	Four weeks ending October 22, 2023	Year-over-year change	Notes
Median sale price	$369,975	3.1%	Prices are up partly because elevated mortgage rates were hampering prices during this time last year
Median asking price	$384,375	5.4%	Biggest increase in a year
Median monthly mortgage payment	$2,738 at a 7.63% mortgage rate	10%	$5 shy of all-time high set a week earlier
Pending sales	70,325	-7.3%	Smallest decline since April 2022, partly because pending sales fell rapidly at this time in 2022
New listings	81,104	0.3%	First increase since July 2022
Active listings	841,697	-12%	Smallest decline since July
Months of supply	3.5 months	+0.2 pts.	Highest level since February 4 to 5 months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller’s market conditions.
Share of homes off market in two weeks	38.3%	Up from 35%
Median days on market	33	-3 days
Share of homes sold above list price	29.8%	Up from 28%
Share of homes with a price drop	6.8%	+0.1 pt.	Record high
Average sale-to-list price ratio	99.1%	+0.3 pts.

Metro-level highlights: Four weeks ending October 22, 2023 Redfin’s metro-level data includes the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Select metros may be excluded from time to time to ensure data accuracy.
	Metros with biggest year-over-year increases	Metros with biggest year-over-year decreases	Notes
Median sale price	West Palm Beach, FL (13.1%) Newark, NJ (13%) Anaheim, CA (12.2%) New Brunswick, NJ (11.4%) San Jose, CA (11%)	Austin, TX (-5.9%) Fort Worth, TX (-2.2%) Houston, TX (-1.6%) San Antonio, TX (-1.6%) Tampa, FL (-1.3%) Portland, OR (-1.2%) Phoenix (-0.4%)	Declined in 7 metros
Pending sales	West Palm Beach, FL (9.8%) Orlando, FL (7.5%) Jacksonville, FL (3.7%) Fort Lauderdale, FL (2.6%) Cleveland, OH (1.2%)	Portland, OR (-21.2%) Sacramento, CA (-18.7%) Virginia Beach, VA (-18.3%) Newark, NJ (-16.6%) Atlanta (-16.4%)	Declined in all but 7 metros
New listings	Orlando, FL (18.7%) West Palm Beach, FL (13.7%) Miami, FL (13.6%) Jacksonville, FL (11.4%) Fort Lauderdale, FL (11.3%)	Atlanta (-24.9%) Portland, OR (-14.5%) Nashville, TN (-13.2%) Columbus, OH (-12.7%) Chicago (-12.1%)	Increased in 14 metros (5 biggest increases all in Florida)