Current affordability challenges facing homebuyers and sellers continue to be apparent, as shown by new data from late June through early July, Redfin reported Thursday.
The median U.S. home sale price for the four weeks ending July 6 hit a new record at $399,633, which was up 1 percent year over year, the real estate company reported in data released on Thursday.
During that same period, pending home sales dropped 3.5 percent on an annual basis, which was the second largest drop since early February, and just short of the previous week’s 4.1 percent annual decline in pending sales.
The news is not all bad for sellers, however, as mortgage applications increased by 9 percent in response to a dip in the weekly average mortgage rate to 6.67 percent. That rate is the lowest it has been since early April, and buyers seem to be taking notice. Home touring activity is up 25 percent from the beginning of the year and Google searches for “homes for sale” have hit their highest level in a year, Redfin said.
“Some homes are moving fast, others are seeing multiple price reductions,” James Gulden, a Redfin Premier agent in Boston, said in the company’s report. “It’s not location or price-tier specific; the mixed results permeate in every corner of the market. Prices are still as high as they have ever been, but with homes sitting longer, the market is slowly turning in buyers’ favor.”
Sellers are still reaching for higher prices, though, with the median asking price up 3.6 percent year over year to $409,973.
New listings were down 0.3 percent from the previous week, which represented their third consecutive week of declines.
The national supply of homes was up by 0.3 points to a four-month supply, which means the U.S. has hit a balanced inventory of houses for sale (typically considered four to five months of inventory).
