{"id":76328,"date":"2023-06-08T05:00:35","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/news\/?p=76328"},"modified":"2023-06-07T16:49:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T23:49:30","slug":"housing-market-update-new-listings-lowest-level-on-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redfin.com\/news\/housing-market-update-new-listings-lowest-level-on-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Housing Market Update: Supply Shortage Worsens, Propping Up Prices, As Near-7% Mortgage Rates Handcuff Homeowners"},"content":{"rendered":"

New listings have hit their lowest level of any early June on record, limiting home sales and keeping prices afloat. But many buyers are still touring homes, indicating that we\u2019ll see pent-up demand when mortgage rates fall and supply improves. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

New listings of homes for sale fell 25% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending June 4 to their lowest level of any early June on record. The continued lack of new listings has pushed the <\/span>total <\/span><\/i>number of homes on the market down 5% year over year to <\/span>its <\/span><\/i>lowest level on record for early June.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Elevated mortgage rates\u2013the daily average was <\/span>6.94%<\/span><\/a> on June 7, near its highest level in two decades\u2013are driving the inventory shortage. The vast majority of homeowners have a mortgage rate <\/span>below 6%<\/span><\/a>, discouraging them from listing their home and giving up their relatively low rate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Limited inventory is keeping national home-price declines relatively modest, with the typical U.S. home price down 1.6% year over year. That\u2019s the smallest dip in three months and half the size of April\u2019s 3.2% drop, which was the biggest in at least a decade. Home prices are still increasing in some parts of the country. The median U.S. <\/span>asking <\/span><\/i>price is unchanged from a year ago after several weeks of declines, indicating that sellers in at least some metro areas are noticing that they can command favorable prices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to propping up prices, the scarcity of listings is limiting purchases; pending home sales are down 17%, continuing a yearlong streak of double-digit drops. But early-stage homebuying demand continues to hold up, with Redfin\u2019s Homebuyer Demand Index\u2013a measure of requests for tours and other services from Redfin agents\u2013near its highest level in a year. That indicates that would-be buyers are out there and may make an offer when mortgage rates decline and\/or more homes are listed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHomes priced under $500,000 are flying off the market because buyers in that price range don\u2019t have many options,\u201d said Sacramento<\/a> Redfin Premier agent David Orr<\/a>. \u201cI’ve been working with one first-time homebuyer for about a year, and she\u2019s adjusted her search as rates have risen. Now that mortgage rates are close to 7%, she\u2019s looking at lower-priced, smaller homes. But the problem we\u2019re facing now is competition: In that lower price range, it takes many misses before you get a hit. She just made an offer nearly $30,000 above asking price for a home listed at $429,000, but she lost out because it had four other offers. I\u2019m advising buyers to get their loan pre-approved and look at homes under budget so they\u2019re prepared to go above asking price.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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