Housing Market Update: Pending Sales Return to Typical Seasonal Trend, Still Up 28% From 2019

Home prices rose 16% from a year earlier, and new listings were up 9%.

Key housing market takeaways for 400+ U.S. metro areas during the 4-week period ending November 29:

• The median home sale price increased 16% year over year to $322,828, the highest on record.
• Pending home sales were up 28% year over year even as the number of pending sales steeply declined during the week of Thanksgiving, following the typical seasonal trend. In the single week ending November 15, pending sales were up 25% from the same week a year earlier.
• New listings of homes for sale were up 9% from a year earlier. The number of new listings was the lowest it has been since the first week of May.
• Active listings (the number of homes listed for sale at any point during the period) fell 29% from 2019 to a new all-time low.
• 42% of homes that went under contract had an accepted offer within the first two weeks on the market.
• The average sale-to-list price ratio, which measures how close homes are selling to their asking prices, rose to 99.5%—an all-time high and 1.5 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
• For the week ending November 29, the seasonally adjusted Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index was up 28% from pre-pandemic levels in January and February.
• Mortgage purchase applications increased 9% week over week (seasonally-adjusted) and were up 28% from a year earlier (unadjusted) during the week ending November 27. For the week ending December 3, 30-year mortgage rates dropped to 2.71%, another new all-time low. Rates have been below 3% since late July.

“Sellers took the week off for Thanksgiving, but buyers were still out there searching for homes despite the lack of new listings,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “Sellers continue to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to pricing. And with mortgage rates hitting new record lows nearly every week recently, buyers are tolerant of higher prices. The lack of new listings will put a lid on home sales through the end of year. The few desirable homes put on the market will receive competitive bids, while sellers who don’t get any bites from buyers will give up and take their homes off the market.”