National home sales are showing signs of weakness after a market boom during the pandemic. Over a four-week period ending May 2, home sales fell 3%, according to a new report from Redfin analyzing home sales. In the subsequent four-week period ending May 28, housing prices also fell $2,500 to a median of $354,975. These trends could indicate the housing market is cooling.
New home listings also fell. From the four-week period ending May 2, new home listings decreased 8% from the same time in 2019 and 37% from the same period in 2021, when the housing market was taken off. Home listings are also down 5% from the peak in 2021. Overall, houses are staying on the market longer and past bid-review dates, and homes are either getting fewer offers than in the spring or in some cases only a single offer, according to Seattle Redfin real estate agent Alysan Long.
Mortgage applications are another indication that the market is showing retreating demand. For the four-week period ending May 28, mortgage applications were down 3%, paralleling the decrease in new home sales. However, mortgage applications were up again through June 3, increasing 2.99%.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.