{"id":76059,"date":"2023-04-06T11:45:31","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T18:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/news\/?p=76059"},"modified":"2023-04-06T11:45:31","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T18:45:31","slug":"housing-market-update-scarce-new-listings-fast-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/news\/housing-market-update-scarce-new-listings-fast-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Housing Market Update: Demand Outpaces Limited Supply, Making Some Markets Feel Hot Despite Few Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

Limited new listings are making it feel\u00a0 like a seller\u2019s market in some parts of the U.S. even though sales are down by double digits. But some markets still feel cool, with for-sale homes lingering on the market.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

If it feels like there aren\u2019t enough homes on the market for the people who want to buy one, it\u2019s because there aren\u2019t. Even though elevated mortgage rates continue to dampen homebuying demand, low inventory means the homes that are for sale are going fast in some parts of the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The pool of homes available to buyers is shrinking quickly mainly because new listings are scarce. New listings fell 21.8% from a year earlier nationwide during the four weeks ending April 2, one of the biggest drops since the start of the pandemic, contributing to an unseasonal early-spring decline in the <\/span>total <\/span><\/i>number of homes for sale. Many homeowners are staying put because they\u2019re <\/span>unwilling<\/span><\/a> to give up their low mortgage rate. Although average 30-year mortgage rates posted their fourth-straight decline this week, dropping to <\/span>6.28%<\/span><\/a>, that\u2019s more than double the sub-3% rates common in 2021.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Buyers are snapping up the homes that do hit the market fast. <\/span>Of the homes going under contract, nearly half are doing so within two weeks. That\u2019s up from about one-quarter at the start of the year, an unusually quick winter increase. <\/span>It would take 2.8 months for today\u2019s supply of for-sale homes to sell at homebuyers\u2019 current consumption rate, the shortest time since September. That\u2019s a sharp drop from the three-year high of 4.5 months in late January and it marks the fastest winter decline in months of supply since at least 2015, in percentage terms. It\u2019s up from a near-record-low of 1.9 months a year ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, pending home sales are down 19% year over year, nearly as much as new listings. That\u2019s partly because homebuying demand is lower than it was last year and partly because so few homes are hitting the market.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cElevated mortgage rates are perhaps an even bigger deterrent for would-be sellers than for would-be buyers. Giving up a 3% mortgage rate for one in the 6% range is a tough pill to swallow,\u201d said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr<\/a>. \u201cToday\u2019s serious homebuyers have grown accustomed to the idea of a 5% or 6% rate and have adjusted their budgets accordingly. The lack of homes hitting the market explains why the market is moving fast even though sales are still down. The lack of new listings is also one reason <\/span>why <\/span><\/i>sales are down: Buyers can\u2019t buy if sellers don\u2019t want to sell.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While new listings are down in every major U.S. metro, the trend is more drastic in some areas. In Denver, where new listings are declining at roughly the same pace as the national drop and there are just 1.6 months of supply, Redfin agent Stephanie Collins<\/a> said sellers have the upper hand as long as their home isn\u2019t overpriced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShiny new listings are getting multiple offers and selling fast. The caveat is that they have to be priced correctly from the beginning,\u201d Collins said. \u201cOne of my buyers recently made an offer on a move-in ready home in a popular area. The home was priced right in line with the market at $520,000; it received eight offers and went for $560,000 to a competing buyer. That same client just had an offer $35,000 over asking price accepted in the same neighborhood. Sellers are hesitant, partly because it\u2019s not spring 2022 anymore.\u00a0 I\u2019m reminding potential sellers that buyers are out there, and some homes have bidding wars\u2013they just need to price a bit lower than they would have a year ago.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Austin, a pandemic homebuying hotspot, buyers can take their time and they have a better chance of getting a home under list price. Inventory is piling up\u2013Austin has 4.4 months of supply, more than almost anywhere in the country\u2013and prices are down nearly 15% year over year, more than any other metro.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBuyers have more power right now. The silver lining of high rates and the slow market we\u2019ve been experiencing here is that some locals are able to buy in neighborhoods they couldn\u2019t have gotten into last year and get contingent offers with small down payments accepted,\u201d said Austin Redfin agent Andrew Vallejo<\/a>. \u201cBut attractive homes that are priced competitively are selling quickly. Sellers are starting to notice, and they\u2019re prepping and pricing their homes accordingly. I think we\u2019ll start to see more listings over the next several months.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Home Prices Falling in Many Metros, Rising in Others<\/span><\/h2>\n

Home prices dropped in more than half (28) of the 50 most populous U.S. metros, with the biggest drop in Austin, TX (-14.7% YoY). Next come four West Coast metros: Sacramento (-11.7%), Oakland, CA (-10.4%), San Jose, CA (-10.2%) and Seattle (-9.6%). That\u2019s the biggest annual decline since at least 2015 for Seattle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other end of the spectrum, sale prices <\/span>increased <\/span><\/i>most in Milwaukee, where they rose 11.4% year over year. Next come Fort Lauderdale, FL (8.9%), West Palm Beach, FL (8.2%), Miami (7.9%) and Columbus, OH (6.3%).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On a national level, the median U.S. home-sale price fell 2.1% year over year to roughly $362,000, marking the seventh straight week of declines after more than a decade of increases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading indicators of homebuying activity:<\/span><\/h2>\n