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Newly listed homes post smallest decline since mid-November

by Liz Hughes

The pace of new home listings is gaining steam, a welcome development in the face of high demand from buyers, Redfin reported.

A new Redfin report found the number of newly listed homes for sale during the four weeks ended Feb. 20 fell just 2% from last year, the smallest decline since mid-November. 

The report found those listings were met with “hearty demand” as pending home sales rose 1% during the first increase since-mid January. Home sale prices, asking prices, mortgage payments and share of homes selling within days of being listed also set new record highs.  

Despite all the highs, the total number of homes for sale hit a new all-time low. 

Redfin deputy chief economist Taylor Marr said there’s good news for homebuyers in that each week more homes are being listed. 

“There is growing evidence that January’s dramatic drop in new listings was only a temporary blip driven by heavy winter storms and the spike in Covid cases, so homebuyers may have some hope for better selection in the coming spring season,” Marr said in a press release. 

In the four weeks ended Feb. 20, active listings fell 25% year over year to an all-time low of 452,000 and were down 49% from the same period in 2020. The median asking price rose 15% from 2021 to another high of $385,327 and was up 27% from 2020. Meanwhile, the median sale price increased 15% year over year to $358,750, another record high. 

Forty-five percent of homes went under contract with an accepted offer within one week of being listed, up from 39% last year, setting another record. Additionally, 43% of homes sold above list price, up from 32% last year. 

The report noted a 10% week-over-week decrease in mortgage applications during the week ended Feb. 18, and 30-year mortgage rates fell to 3.89% for the week ended Feb. 24.

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